It has been said that the best way to hide something is to conceal it in plain view. What is that supposed to mean? As regards God's Word, it means that if we assume that we understand certain prophecies, when in reality we do not, then we are not going to be as receptive to the truth when it presents itself, since we imagine that we already know it. By that means, then, Jehovah is able to conceal from us, in plain view as it were, whatever he wishes. In connection with the book of Daniel, the prophet was told by Jehovah's enlightening angel: "And as for you, O Daniel, make secret the words and seal up the book, until the time of the end. Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant."
Since the time of the end has not begun, the book of Daniel has not officially been unsealed yet. (See essay entitled: What and When is the Time of the End?) But, since we imagine that the time of the end has already begun, we have no reliable reference point in prophecy. The truth of the matter is that the time of the end has to do with the culmination during the tribulation period. Daniel 12:5 poses the question one angel asked of another. It reads: "How long will it be to the end of the wonderful things?" The other angel responded, saying: "It will be for an appointed time, appointed times, and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish."
What things will come to their finish? Well, the entire book of Daniel is a series of "wonderful things" --astoundingly accurate prophecies that reveal in great detail the political developments that lead up to the end of the entire global civilization that has dominated and tyrannized the earth for the last few thousand years. When the appointed time, times, and half a time expire, then we may expect God's kingdom to be in complete control of earth's affairs and a peaceful new system will have begun.
It is past the time that Jehovah's Witnesses should continue to believe the fantasy that the relatively minor hardships that the handful of Bible Students experienced back in 1918--or any time since then--was the beginning of the time of the end and the fulfillment of the prophecies that call for the holy ones to be brought to ruin. The prophecies of the time of the end lay ahead of us---not behind. The prophecy clearly says that immediately following the allotted period of time when God's people are brought to ruin (also known as the time of the end), that then is the end of all the things that Daniel had foretold. In other words, it is the end of the world---a conclusion of a system of things, as Jesus described.
Strangely, for all the commentary that the Watchtower Society has offered on the book of Daniel, very little has been written about the king fierce in countenance. Up to this point, we have identified the king as being the British Empire. And we have come to the conclusion that much of the prophecy was fulfilled back during the Second World War. However, what we seem to have overlooked is that the prophecy says that the holy ones are brought to ruin during a period described as "a freedom from care." By no stretch of the imagination could the period of the Second World War and the Nazi holocaust be described as a period when the world enjoyed "a freedom from care." Besides, it would seem to be a gross exaggeration of the plain facts to say that Jehovah's Witnesses were brought to ruin by the British Commonwealth nations during WWII. But, indulging in a freedom from care seems to perfectly describe the Western world at this particular point in time--a world obviously totally self-absorbed with its own amusements, and oblivious to its own extinction.
If for no other reason than the obvious inconsistency mentioned above, we should want to re-examine the prophecy of Daniel. Especially since the prophecy of the king fierce in countenance also specifically says it is for the appointed time of the end. Daniel 8:17 reads: "Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end."
As an aside, it should be noted that the 7th chapter of Daniel refers to a prophetic period expressed as "a time, times, half a time," or 3 1/2 times, which the 12th chapter of Daniel also refers to in slightly different terms. Revelation, the 11th and 12th chapters, equates this period with a literal 42 months and 1,260 days as well, or three and a half years. Yet, Daniel the 8th chapter makes reference to a period of mornings and evenings, totaling 2,300. It may be possible to harmonize these two periods in that one day as composed of one morning and one evening; hence, 2,300 mornings and evenings is another way of saying 1,150 actual days, which is similar to the period of 1,260 days of the time, times, and half a time. It is also more closely within the time frame of the 1,290 and 1,335 day periods mentioned in the 12th chapter of Daniel.
But, before we more closely consider the angel's explanation of a king fierce in countenance, as contained in the span of verses from Daniel 8:23-25, we should take note of the harmony of the four prophecies of Daniel that deal with the advent of God's kingdom. Beginning in the 2nd chapter of Daniel with the simple prophecy of the metallic image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the prophecies become increasingly more detailed; ending with the three-page chronicle of the king of the north and king of the south. However, from the simplest to the most complex, each vision ends the exact same way, in that all four prophecies abruptly conclude with a singular political agency being directly vanquished by the almighty Hand of God.
For example, we have merely assumed that the king of the south is on hand when Michael stands up to destroy the king of the north. What we have failed to take note of is that there is no further mention of the king of the south beyond the point when the king of the north floods over into all the lands. The detailed prophecy of the king of the north and king of the south ends with a single king, the king of the north, coming all the way to his end, with no helper to intervene for him. Surely, it is no mere oversight on the part of the angel who outlined history in such amazing detail. We have merely been led to assume that the king of the south is an ongoing concern up until the time that Christ's kingdom takes complete control-- when that is not what the prophecy reveals.
As regards the 2nd chapter of Daniel, the metallic colossus with the head of gold, supported on the feet of iron and clay, represents a single composite kingdom that is ultimately shattered by God's kingdom. Presently, the Watchtower interprets the iron and clay to symbolize an indistinct "politically divided world." However, that interpretation is inconsistent and violates the natural order of the previous metals that make up the image. Each metal represents a separate and distinct empire in a uniform progression that began with Babylon, followed by the Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. How is it, then, that we arrive at the feet of iron and clay and end up with an obscure interpretation like "a politically divided world"?
This is especially puzzling, since in Revelation we have insightfully identified the two-horned beast with the modern Anglo-American dual world power. Not only that, but in the 13th chapter of Revelation we identify the image that is brought to life by the Anglo-American beast as the United Nations Organization. These interpretations are in harmony with history, in that the Anglo-American dual world power is ruling the world presently, and the United States and Great Britain are also the primary creators and advocates of the UN. To preserve the natural harmony of the Bible's inter-related prophecies, we must recognize that Jehovah actually intended the feet of iron and clay to symbolize the Anglo-American dyad.
Since the metallic image is in inverted order, seeing that the feet of iron and clay, upon which the image is standing, symbolizes the most recent world powers, the question we should ask is what does the image itself represent? As already noted, Revelation depicts the Anglo-American beast fabricating an image that it eventually forces the world to worship. Also, in the 17th chapter of Revelation the image that comes to life is portrayed as being an 8th king, which is a composite of the remnants of seven previous empires. Again, to preserve the harmony of prophecy, we must at some point recognize the symbolic metal image of Daniel, in its entirety, represents the 8th king.
However, we should not assume that the prophecy is describing the somewhat powerless UN institution of the present moment. Instead, the prophecies are apparently foretelling developments that have not occurred yet; developments reserved for the time of the end that will destroy the present ordering of nation-states and catapult the United Nations into the position of the only truly global dominion that will ever have existed---the ultimate empire. Now we are in a position to anticipate how the prophecy of the king fierce countenance will yet unfold.
The angel explained to Daniel that the king fierce in countenance arises from competing factions that had their origin with the breakup of Alexander's Grecian Empire. Daniel the 8th chapter doesn't cover any of the detailed history that the 11th chapter relates from the time of Alexander's death. Instead, Daniel 8:23 picks up the final developments of the ongoing struggle for supremacy. It reads: "And in the final part of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to a completion, there will stand up a king fierce in countenance and understanding ambiguous sayings."
"The final part of their kingdom" evidently refers to the Anglo-American dual world power. Indeed, it is an established fact that the modern world of extended European civilization can trace its cultural and philosophical roots back to ancient Greece. Paradoxically, the two antagonistic systems of today, embodied in the Anglo-American system, both had their origin in ancient Greece. So, while Greece is known as the "cradle of democracy" and true republicanism, Alexander's empire is also the forerunner of the Roman and British empires as well.
Let the history student be reminded that Great Britain and the United States are historic enemies. The two kings have openly fought two different wars outright: the original struggle for independence, and the War of 1812. Also, a little known fact is that Great Britain supported the Confederacy during the Civil War in an attempt to divide and conquer its wayward colony. (Link)
This striving of two competing kings, or ideologies, is in harmony with what is also revealed in Daniel concerning the struggle between the kings of the north and south-- as well as the incompatible iron and clay amalgam that do not stick together. It perfectly symbolizes the modern Anglo-American system, which is the unnatural union of imperialism and republicanism. But, as noted previously, one force wins out. Apparently, then, "the king of fierce countenance" is the champion of the empire.
We often hear terms like globalization, New World Order, free trade, global governance, and internationalism. We hear slogans like, "think globally and act locally," and expressions referring to the global village, and so on. Our modern lexicon has many somewhat ambiguous terms related to globalism. But, what exactly is the "New World Order" anyway? What is "globalization" really all about?
Many observers have come to understand that the ideology behind these ambiguous sayings has to do with conditioning and propagandizing in behalf of ultimately doing away with the sovereignty of individual nation-states. For example, in regards to the ongoing controversy over free trade, up until recently each nation determined how it would go about protecting and nurturing its own domestic markets and industries by regulating the importation of goods from other nations. Now, though, various international treaty agreements mean that individual nations no longer have that right. Globalism subtly subverts the sovereignty of nations by transferring the authority to determine the internal affairs of nations to an international court of arbitration.
So it is that "the king of fierce countenance" understands these baffling and ambiguous sayings, in that he is the source of the propaganda intended to bring the world under his imperial yoke.
The United Nations is unique: it is the only government that has ever existed on this planet that does not have a specific nation as its power base. The UN derives its authority and power from the consent of all its member nations. To the extent that each nation relinquishes a portion of its own sovereignty, and to the degree that each nation contributes funds, military equipment, and personnel to the UN, to that extent "the king fierce of countenance" is empowered.
Of course, the Anglo-American establishment is the primary supporter of the UN-- New York City being home to the UN headquarters. True to Revelation's symbolism, the Anglo-American two-horned power has indeed told the nations "to make an image to the wild beast," in that Great Britain and the United States have been the UN's strongest advocates. According to Revelation 13:14-15, at some point we may expect the fabricated image of the wild beast to have life breathed into it so that it takes on a life of its own. The prophecy reveals that eventually the 8th king will demand recognition from every person on earth under pain of death.
We begin to get some idea of the authority and power that the UN is yet to acquire when we consider what Revelation 17 and 18 foretells is to occur when Babylon the Great is destroyed. When organized religion is eventually annihilated by the 8th king, as Jehovah's Witnesses have expected for some time, the prophecy says that even the kings of the earth, who gave their power to the 8th king, will "stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say, 'too bad, too bad, you great city.'" Under the circumstances of any sort of global catastrophe and international crisis, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to envision the UN acquisitioning the world's armies and even nuclear weaponry so that no individual nation would dare challenge its power. In this way the king fierce in countenance must become mighty in power.
To date, the Watchtower has never offered any sort of satisfactory explanation as to how the British Empire might have become mighty but not by its own power, nor has it ever been commented on how the British Empire may have brought ruination "in a wonderful way." Since we can't point to any sort of historical development that would support such a thing, it must be that the prophecy awaits a future fulfillment.
Consider this, too, that at Daniel 11:36, it is said of the king of the north: "He will certainly prove successful until the denunciation will have come to a finish." So, since both kings, the king of the north and the king of fierce countenance, are said to be successful until the very end, we may rightly conclude that they are the same entity. Now, in this connection also, the king of fierce countenance apparently comes out of the north. Please reason on Daniel 8:9, which reads: "And it kept getting very much greater toward the south and toward the sunrising and toward the decoration." Toward the sunrising is, of course, east, and towards the Decoration is evidently west. So, the prophecy seems indented to indicate that the king comes from the north and expands his dominion south and in all directions to envelope the entire globe. This, too, would harmonize with all the many prophecies that speak of a tyrant as coming from the symbolic north.
In what way might this king prove successful? Apparently his success comes when he effectively subjugates the world to himself. Interestingly, Jehovah speaks through his prophet Isaiah in connection with his avenger from out of the north, saying of him: "I myself, too, have created the ruinous man for wrecking work." (Isaiah 54:16b)
Isaiah the 25th chapter speaks of the "town of tyrannical nations," saying that the persecution from them is a scorching heat and as "when the blast of the tyrannical ones is like a rainstorm against a wall." Furthermore, in that context, Isaiah 25:7 indicates that God will intervene and that "he will swallow up the face of the envelopment that is enveloping over all peoples, and the woven work that is interwoven upon all the nations."
The envelopment that is enveloping over all peoples and enmeshing all the nations has to do with the imposition of a globe-strangling, genocidal, dictatorial, tyrannical regime, the likes of which this poor war-ravaged planet has never seen. That Jehovah would use that setting to describe his doing away with death and wiping the tears from the eyes of his people, is an indication of the horrors that await us in the future when the king of fierce countenance succeeds in causing widespread ruin.
The period following WWII has been a period of relative peace and prosperity, generally speaking. The children born in the post-war era, the so-called "baby boomer generation," have not known the hardships of their parents and grandparents that lived through the Great Depression and the Second World War. We have become accustomed to the idea that nothing will change. The 1990's saw a period of money-mania on a scale not seen since the so-called Roaring 20's that preceded that bust of 1929. So, it has become the popular expectation of most people, and most of the world's leading experts, that things will continue on has they have in recent times.
However, Jehovah has envisioned an entirely different fate for this wicked system of things. His word says that at some point men will become so desperate that they will throw their worthless money into the very street. Actually, such a thing is not so far-fetched when we consider what happened in Germany in 1923. Their currency was destroyed due to hyperinflation so that it became completely worthless. Those who were wealthy, and whose wealth was held in paper Reichsmarks, were brought to ruin. (LINK)
There are more modern examples that we can point to as instances where mighty nations are brought to ruin by being reduced to poverty through currency devaluation. Take the case of Argentina. Not too long ago, Argentina was considered one of the most progressive and prosperous nations of South America. But, indebtedness to the IMF has brought ruin on the entire nation.
For those unfamiliar, the IMF and the World Bank were created at the same time as the United Nations and have acted as the financial arm of the aspiring global government. (LINK)
But, could such a financial collapse, as has occurred in Argentina, take place on a global scale? Yes. Due to the very nature of the intertwined global financial system, the use of highly leveraged speculation, and massive indebtedness, such a crash seems inevitable. As an example of how vulnerable the system is to catastrophe, in 1998, the giant multi-billion dollar LTCM hedge fund went bankrupt when Russia defaulted on their sovereign debt. Alan Greenspan, the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, later admitted that the collapse of LTCM posed a grave systemic risk ("systemic risk" is a euphemism for global crash) had the "Fed" not organized an emergency bail-out. (LINK)
There are, in fact, many financial players today that are much larger and therefore present more of a "systemic risk" than did LTCM back in 1998. From the standpoint of the king of fierce countenance, and in the wake of the more recent Enron debacle, it seems that some institutions are so reckless and irresponsible that they are actually intended to become time bombs that will bring the system down at a future time. (LINK)
At any rate, the very sovereignty of nations is tied to the viability of their domestic economies and currencies. In recent years, the U.S. dollar has become the world's preferred currency. Ominously, the United States has the unenviable distinction of having gone from being the world's greatest creditor to the world's greatest debtor. (LINK) That means that the world has put its trust in America to make good on its paper promises. At some point, soon, that promise must inevitably be broken. The Bible principle that the borrower becomes a slave to the lender holds true in the case of nations. Ironically, the United Nations is the only government that is not in debt.
In many ways we are all dependent upon this system of things. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is a multi-billion dollar operation that very much depends upon the continued stability of the present economic and political system in order to carry on its work. A global financial collapse or hyperinflationary destruction of the U.S. dollar, such as occurred in Germany in 1923, could result in not only the fulfillment of the prophecies that call for bringing to ruin the mighty ones and wealthy ones of this system, but "also the people made up of holy ones."
Satan's entire wicked world is run from the top-down based on deception. Therefore, the ones most adept at deceiving others are the ones that succeed in this world. While many people will admit that government leaders, politicians, and businessmen often lie to the public, few people are mentally up to the challenge of accepting that there is such a thing as a conspiracy to destroy the nation-state system of things. Most of us have been subtly conditioned to dismiss such a thing as the paranoid delusions of conspiracy nuts and UFO crackpots. Yet, the reality is that there is now in place the bureaucratic infrastructure for a global government, and that the nation-state system has been brought into a situation whereby its collapse seems all but certain.
Jehovah himself adds the weight of his own voice to the issue of an incredible but true conspiracy. In reference to the tyrannical punishing agent that God has destined to catch the nations in his dragnet, Habakkuk 1:5 says: "See, you people, among the nations, and look on, and stare in amazement at one another. Be amazed; for there is an activity that one is carrying on in your days, which you people will not believe although it is related."
Furthermore, Jehovah speaks to his own people in regards to his "strange" and "unusual work" of allowing his organization to be tyrannized, saying: "And now do not show yourselves scoffers, in order that your bands may not grow strong, for there is an extermination, even something decided upon, that I have heard of from the Sovereign Lord Jehovah of armies, for all the land."
One of the most persistent lies that have dominated our thinking in recent times is the lie that the world is over-populated. A British statistician by the name of Thomas Maltus, who was apparently commissioned by the British Empire, first advanced this idea back in the18th century. His name has since then become synonymous with population reduction. Hence, Mathusian policy has been the cornerstone of imperial thought up to the present day. In fact, since 1974, it has been the official policy of the Anglo-American establishment to reduce Third World population by whatever means is available in order to make sure that Third World resources are available to the wealthy nations. (LINK)
Of course, the world is not "over-populated." It can be proven that the world is instead merely under-developed. (LINK)
Judging from the progress that has been made so far, it is apparent that the king of fierce countenance has shown great insight into human nature, as well as political and financial matters, and he has thoroughly deceived the nations as to the nature of his intentions. Behind the seeming benevolent façade of being a peacekeeper and of protecting human rights, and of trying to save the planet from war, poverty, and ruin, the United Nations stands poised to hamstring the nations and implement its own agenda of reducing the earth's population by as much as 80%.
Since they are the agency that Jehovah has assigned to punish the nations, evidently they will fully implement their genocidal policy at some point during the world's nightmarish last hour. Jehovah's judgment upon the world is that it should become victimized by itself in a global holocaust that far exceeds the Nazi and Communist pogroms of the 20th century. It is a fitting end for a world that has refused the loving hand of its own Savior.
No wonder Jehovah describes the world's last imperial overlord in such ghastly terms as is found at Isaiah 14:19-20, which reads: "Like a detested sprout, clothed with killed men stabbed with the sword that are going down to the stones of a pit, like a carcass trodden down--because you brought your own land to ruin, you killed your own people."
No government has ever been so presumptuous so as to take to itself the authority of the Messiah. Yet, the UN claims that if the nations only empower it, that it will be able to do what no human institution has ever done before, namely: bring true peace to the world by making the nations beat their swords into plowshares. The UN asserts that it is the only real protector of human rights. The UN advances the idea that all national governments are obsolete and that they must go so that the world can enjoy the true benefits of globalism.
Not only does the UN presume to fulfill Isaiah's Messianic prophecy, it is well- known that the UN has been the promoter of New Age pantheism. (LINK) It was the official policy of communist regimes to suppress all religion, and especially Christianity. So, it should not seem at all surprising that world socialism is similarly disposed towards religion. We may expect, then, that when Daniel 8:12 says that the king of fierce countenance "kept throwing truth to the earth, and it acted and had success," that not only will Christendom be destroyed, but that the work of Jehovah's Witnesses will be suppressed as well.
By attempting to annihilate Jehovah's holy ones, who will by that time have been given the kingdom, the king of fierce countenance will have misled all the nations into a direct confrontation with Jesus Christ, the King of kings. The 2nd Psalms foretells that the national groups will be unified under a common umbrella when they go to war against God. It reads "kings of the earth take their stand and high officials themselves have amassed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one."
During that critical time of tumult, Jehovah speaks to the nations in his hot displeasure, reminding them that he has already installed his own heavenly King and that their appointed time has expired. The king of fierce countenance will find himself in the middle of the strategic battlefield of Armageddon, where he will prove to be no match for Jesus Christ and his legions of angels. Daniel 8:25b writes the final sentence to the last chapter of the history of the empire of man. It reads: "And against the Prince of princes he will stand up, but it will be without [human] hand that he will be broken."
Copyright © 2002, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.