Paying More Attention to Daniel's Prophecy

In order to pick up the trail of the king of the north a good place to start is at Daniel 11:20-22, which reads: "And there must stand up in his position one who is causing an exactor to pass through the splendid kingdom, and in a few days he will be broken, but not in anger nor in warfare.

The Watchtower's interpretation of this part of the prophecy appears to be correct, in that, the one standing up in the position of the king of the north at this juncture is Augustus Caesar—the first emperor of Rome. (The previous king of the north was the Syrian king Antiochus IV) Augustus decreed that a census be taken, apparently for purposes of taxation and conscription; hence, he caused "an exactor to pass through the splendid kingdom" of Judea. Shortly afterwards Augustus died of natural causes.

After Augustus came Tiberius Caesar, who is mentioned by name in the Gospel of Luke in connection with the baptism and anointing of Jesus. Daniel 11:21 says of Augustus' successor: "And there must stand up in his position one who is to be despised, and they will certainly not set upon him the dignity of the kingdom; and he will actually come in during a freedom from care and take hold of the kingdom by means of smoothness."

The Society's interpretation of the verse above sounds plausible, but it is not really clear how it can be said that "they will certainly not set upon him the dignity of the kingdom." The Watchtower notes that the dignity of the kingdom was "unwillingly bestowed on him only after all other likely successors were dead." Perhaps, though, it was the dignity of the Judean kingdom that was not set upon Tiberius, in that the Jews despised their Roman occupiers—including Pontus Pilate— Tiberius' appointed governor of Jerusalem. Jewish history records several incidents where Pilate greatly offended Jewish religious sensibilities.

On one occasion Pilate nearly caused an insurrection when he placed Roman ensigns in Jerusalem—reminders of Rome's despised imperial presence. The Jews defied Pilate's authority, not conferring upon him the dignity of his position as Tiberius' appointee, and demanded that the ensigns be removed from the holy city. Pilate ordered his soldiers to surround the Jews, but they stood their ground; even at the risk of execution, so that Pilate was forced to remove the ensigns.

On another occasion Pilate hung some shields in Herod's palace in honor of the emperor. The Jews, again, took offense and petitioned Tiberius; who ordered that the offending shields be removed. So, in this way Tiberius may have ingratiated himself to the Jews—taking " hold of the kingdom by means of smoothness." By the time of Christ's execution the leaders of the Jewish kingdom expressed their complete allegiance to Tiberius with the following words: “We have no king but Caesar!"

So, not only was the Judean kingdom controlled by the smoothness of the king of the north, but the birth place and original field of operation for Christianity came under the authority of the king of the north as well.

The 22nd verse goes on to say of the Roman king of the north: "And as regards the arms of the flood, they will be flooded over on account of him, and they will be broken; as will also the Leader of the covenant."

The "Leader of the covenant" is undoubtedly Jesus Christ. But, who is it that "will be flooded over on account of him"? The Watchtower's interpretation seems to miss the mark. The Society's commentary on this verse states: "As regards the arms of the flood"—the military forces of the surrounding kingdoms—the angel said: 'They will be flooded over and will be broken.' When Tiberius became the king of the north, his nephew Germanicus Caesar was commander of the Roman troops on the Rhine River. In 15 C.E., Germanicus led his forces against the German hero Arminius, with some success. However, the limited victories were won at great cost, and Tiberius thereafter aborted operations in Germany. Instead, by promoting civil war, he tried to prevent German tribes from uniting. Tiberius generally favored a defensive foreign policy and focused on strengthening the frontiers. This stance was fairly successful. In this way "the arms of the flood" were controlled and were "broken."

According to the Society, the "arms of the flood" were the Germanic armies hostile to Rome on the northern fringe of the empire. However, the Watchtower seems to be saying that the Germanic forces are both the "arms of the flood" as well as the "they" who are "flooded over." But, how reasonable is that? The Watchtower offers no sensible explanation as to how the arms of the flood were flooded over.

Secondly, it seems completely unwarranted to come to the conclusion that the pronoun "they" who were "flooded over" refers to the Germans when there is no reference to them in the immediate context. Considering the context of the prophecy has to do with what was to occur in the "splendid kingdom" in connection with "the Leader of the covenant" being broken by the king of the north, it would seem that "they" are the Jews. It is highly doubtful that the angel would mention an obscure battle between the Germanic tribes and the Roman armies in the same breath as he foretold the execution of the Son of God.  There is simply no connection.

We must keep ever in mind the need to look for ways to allow the Bible to interpret itself. For example, the 9th chapter of Daniel refers to the Jewish holy place (the splendid kingdom) and "the people of a leader" being flooded over and made desolate by a disgusting thing after the Messiah is cut off. That is the exact same subject matter of the verse in question in connection with the king of the north. It seems reasonable, then, to conclude that "they" who are flooded over and "broken" at Daniel 11:22 are the residents of the "splendid kingdom" who rejected the "Leader of the covenant." The flood of desolation, of course, occurred in 70 CE when the Romans, under General Titus, utterly destroyed Jerusalem.

Evidently, though, the identity of the king of the north at each stage is not limited to just one individual such as Tiberius. But, rather, the prophecy goes on to include developments that individual kings, like Tiberius, merely set in motion. Since this aspect of the prophecy carries us beyond the reign of Augustus' despised successor, Tiberius, the Watchtower's commentary on the nest span of verses bears revision as well.

"And because of their allying themselves with him he will carry on deception and actually come up and become mighty by means of a little nation."

The Watchtower's commentary in the Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy book interprets the prophecy as applying to the internal affairs of the Roman political body. "Their allying themselves with him" is said to apply to the Roman Senate. But, again, there is nothing in the context that warrants arbitrarily ascribing a pronoun, in this case, "their", to an entity like the Roman Senate. The context is speaking about "they" being "flooded over on account of him." So, it seems the prophecy is saying that the Jews allied themselves with the Roman Empire. But how? Again, let us endeavor to allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves.

Psalms 2:2 is a messianic prophecy, which the apostles applied to the anti-Christ conspiracy that developed in the 1st Century between the Jewish rulers and Roman ruler—Pontus Pilate. At Acts 4:26-28, the apostles prayed to God, quoting the 2nd Psalm and offering these inspired words of interpretation, saying: "The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers massed together as one against Jehovah and against his anointed one.' Even so, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with men of nations and with peoples of Israel were in actuality gathered together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, in order to do what things your hand and counsel had foreordained to occur."

Luke also reports that the nominally Jewish Edomite king, Herod, and Pontius Pilate became friends on the very day of Christ's execution. Luke 23:11-12 says: "Then Herod together with his soldier guards discredited him, and he made fun of him by clothing him with a bright garment and sent him back to Pilate. Both Herod and Pilate now became friends with each other on that very day; for before that they had continued at enmity between themselves."

The unseemly political alliance between the Jews and their despised Roman masters might be considered one aspect of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. Keep in mind, though, that that the 2nd Psalm has a more far-reaching application than to the 1st Century.

But, at this point it is vital to take note of an important change in God's purpose. "The land of the Decoration," as mentioned in the 16th verse and "the land of the Decoration" in the 41st verse are not the same "land of the Decoration." That's because the original decorated land was the literal "splendid kingdom" of Judah. However, on Pentecost 33 CE, a spiritual Israel came into existence. So, the anointed congregation is the modern-day "land of the Decoration." So, too, the "Leader of the covenant," Christ, is not the leader of the Mosaic covenant that God covenanted with the nation of Israel. Jesus mediates a covenant with members of spiritual Israel. But, just as the fleshly Jewish nation rejected Christ and became apostate, so too, an apostasy developed shortly after the nation of spiritual Israel came into existence

With these overlapping features of prophecy in mind, please take note of the fact that apostate Christian bishops also allied themselves with the Roman king of the north just as the Jews leaders had done previously. How did this come about?  After the death of the apostles Christianity became more and more corrupt. Eventually, even though Christians only composed about 10% of the total population living under Roman rule in the 4th Century, Emperor, Constantine, made "Christianity" the state religion. Hence, Christendom was born. 

By those means, then, the Roman Empire was poised to "become mighty by means of a little nation"—the "little nation" that sprang from spiritual Israel. And by means of false Christians "allying themselves with him," the king of the north was able to "carry on deception." Think of it: by Constantine making "Christianity" the state-approved religion, the emperor of Rome, the king of the north, became the titular head of what had been Christ's church!  And what far reaching effects that deceptive alliance has had! To this day, hundreds of millions of Catholics, Protestants and members of Orthodox churches are under the false doctrinal system of worship first instituted by Emperor Constantine's Council of Nicea.

As regards the Watchtower's interpretation of the prophecy concerning the king of the north becoming "mighty by means of a little nation," the Pay Attention commentary says that the "little nation" is the so-called Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard was an elite group of handpicked infantry and cavalrymen that served as a type of secret service and bodyguard for the emperor. But, is it really accurate to say that the emperor became mighty by means of them? Not really. The Caesars were mighty because they controlled an enormous army—not just their Praetorian bodyguards. In some respects, the Praetorian Guard themselves posed a threat of assassination so that they had to be well-paid to insure their loyalty.

But, not only for those reasons does the Watchtower's interpretation seem untenable, if the Watchtower's interpretation is really true, then we might ask the pertinent question as to why Jehovah would even concern himself with such trivial details of history and neglect to shed any light on how the Roman Empire perpetuated itself from ancient times to modern times. As it stands, according to the Watchtower's commentary, the prophecy does not provide any details as to how the king of the north survived the so-called fall of the Roman Empire. The Watchtower admits as much by their commentary, where we read on page 242:

"Without giving unnecessary details about the breakdown of the Roman Empire, which stretched over centuries, Jehovah's angel went on to foretell further exploits of the king of the north and the king of the south. However, a brief review of certain developments in the Roman Empire will help us to identify the two rival kings in later times."

The Society's commentary leaves inquiring Bible students scratching their heads in bewilderment as to why Jehovah supposedly felt the need to enlighten us about trivial details having to do with the border skirmishes on the Germanic frontier, the Roman Senate's trivial dealings with Caesar, and Caesar's Praetorian Guard, while omitting as "unnecessary details" how it was that the Roman Empire transformed itself into Christendom in order to perpetuate itself into the modern era.

The purpose for God issuing prophecy in the first place is not to merely impress us with his foresight. One of the primary purposes of prophecy is to reveal how God's purpose will unfold. Certainly, Jehovah's purpose is intimately bound up in Christendom's storied creation and existence; if only that we may know our spiritual heritage and how the world's political stage has come to be set in the manner it is presently. But, a study of the Watchtower's interpretation reveals an enormous unbridgeable gap between the Roman Caesars and the modern king of the north. For that reason the prophecy of Daniel bears closer scrutiny.

Returning to Daniel 11:23-24, we read: "And because of their allying themselves with him he will carry on deception and actually come up and become mighty by means of a little nation. During freedom from care, even into the fatness of the jurisdictional district he will enter in and actually do what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers have not done. Plunder and spoil and goods he will scatter among them; and against fortified places he will scheme out his schemes, but only until a time."

The Watchtower offers no commentary as to how Tiberius Caesar may have done "what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers have not done." We are told simply that Tiberius made certain improvements within the Roman Empire and eased the tax burden and that that was the supposed fulfillment of how the king of the north shared the spoils of the empire. But, if indeed "their allying themselves with him" finds a secondary fulfillment in the apostate bishops allying themselves with Constantine, then the 24th verse would have application to the period during which Christendom ruled Europe.

Prior to Constantine Christians were periodically banned and persecuted by the Romans. By making Christianity the state-sponsored religion, "Christianity" entered into a period appropriately described in Daniel's prophecy as: "during freedom from care." By means of the "Christianized" Pontifex Maximus, the Popes became successors to the Roman Emperors, and as such, the king of the north was able to do what the Caesars ("his fathers and the fathers of his fathers") had not been able to accomplish. Through the Pontificate, the king of the north was able to more effectively control European civilization. Through the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 4thand 5th centuries, marking the beginning of the roughly 1,000 period know as the Dark Ages, until  the end of the Holy Roman Empire in the early 1800's, the system set in place by Constantine remained in power. Through the feudal system and the imperial Crusades, the king of the north fulfilled Daniel's prophecy: "Plunder and spoil and goods he will scatter among them."

However, the king of the north's domination of Europe was not to continue on unchallenged. The prophecy goes on to say of the king's success: "and against fortified places he will scheme out his schemes, but only until a time."

At this stage we are re-introduced to the king of the north's longtime nemesis—the king of the south, where we read in the 25th verse: "And he will arouse his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great military force; and the king of the south, for his part, will excite himself for the war with an exceedingly great and mighty military force."