Within the context of our proposal there are three separate arguments that can be made in order to establish the identity of the king of verse 36.  The one is by the use of Miller’s rules, another is by the use of the Daily as Paganism.  The third argument is found in the confirmation of these two by the Spirit of Prophecy.

As the title implies, we are going to start with the Daily.

As we have already seen, most people in Adventism, especially our scholars and the BRI, subscribe to the new view of the Daily.  To argue against the old view of the Daily, as outlined in our proposal, is to miss the entire point of these articles.  Remembering that the point is not an attempt to convince anyone to change their method of study, but instead to show that a given set of interpretative principles will produce their own unique conclusion.  In other words, each method of study will produce its inevitable conclusion that is unique to that particular method. In this case, it is the use of Miller’s Rules, as opposed to the Historical Grammatical, or Higher Critical methods, that will bring us to its own unique conclusion.

This principle also applies to the other aspects of our proposal, and in the end, it is up to each individual who reads this to decide, based upon the weight of evidence, whether these things hold true or not.

The Law of Genetics

As we begin the actual study of Daniel 11:31-45, we are not going to attempt to go into the minutia of every position that is set forth.  The understanding for instance, that the Daily represents Paganism, automatically brings its own set of presuppositions. Paganism does not just apply to the Daily in the simple sense that the Daily = Paganism, but as such it also stands in its place as the fourth kingdom, that of Pagan Rome.  This is shown in the succession of kingdoms in Daniel 2.

Each of the kingdoms of Daniel 2 successively held the title of Paganism: but they terminate in Pagan Rome, and their characteristics are then transmitted to Papal Rome.  This is seen in the beast of Revelation 13:2.  Papal Rome is but the inheritor of the principle found in Exodus 20:5—“visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”  This system, Papal Rome, has inherited the iniquities of its fathers—the pride of Babylon, the infallibility of Medio Persia, the false education of Greece, and the legalism of Pagan Rome.

The characteristics of these kingdoms are simply the outworking on a larger scale of the elements that reside within the fallen human being.  These four kingdoms represent the perfection of a system based on fallen human nature that is expressed by Paganism.

It is interesting to note that it is Pagan Rome in particular, that is set apart as diverse from the other three kingdoms, and described as dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly.  To view this power from a military standpoint only, is to lose the perspective of its true ability to persecute God’s people.  This power devours the whole world, but is specifically directed towards Gods’ people.  It does this with its iron teeth and brass nails, which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet. Iron stands for Rome, and brass stands for Greece, the leading characteristics of which are legalism and false education.

In other words, it brings a system of legalism and false education to bear against God’s people in particular, but also against the world.  It explains how the host (God’s people) of Daniel 8:13 are trodden underfoot, and it explains how the dragon (in the form of Pagan Rome) stood up against the woman (Church) to devour her child, (Christ) Rev. 12:4.  It also explains how Paganism magnified himself to the prince of the host. Dan. 8:11.  This system of legalism and false education produced the mindset in both the Romans and Jews, that caused Christ to be crucified.  This history was repeated during the dark ages, and will be repeated in our time for the same reasons, again resulting in the martyrdom of God’s people.

Rule #1—Every Word Must Have its Proper Bearing to the Subject Presented.

When we apply Miller’s rule #1 to Daniel 11, it can be seen that the chapter is divided into several blocks of texts, so to speak, with each block centering around a principle subject.  Verse 1 gives us the starting point that Gabriel selects for his narrative to Daniel.  The subject of verse 2 is Medio Persia; the subject of verses 3-14a is the kingdom of Greece; and the subject of verses 14b-30 is the kingdom of Pagan Rome.  Another transition of power occurs in verse 31, thus introducing an additional block of text, which requires us to identify the new principle subject.

Identifying these principle subjects of the different blocks of text, allow us to also identify the overriding subject of the entire chapter.  It will be seen, as we progress in this study, that Daniel 11 deals in a literal way with the three great persecuting powers of God’s people—Paganism, Papalism, and Spiritualism.  These are identical with the Dragon, the Beast, and the False  Prophet.

The first thing to establish then, in the study of Daniel 11:31-45, is the principal subject of these verses.

There are four possible candidates:  The new power introduced in v31; the king of v36; the king of the south of v40, and the king of the north, also found in v40.

The transition to a new power is prior to the reference regarding ‘the king’ in verse 36, and there is no succeeding change of power between the abomination that maketh desolate in verse 31, and the king that does according to its will in verse 36.  Whatever this abomination power represents, is the same power represented by the king of verse 36.  In other words, ‘the’ king is not ‘a’ king,  ‘The king’ has reference to the new power introduced in verse 31: that of the ‘abomination that maketh desolate.’

The kings of the south and north draw their bearing from the king of verse 36, and as such, neither the king of the south nor the king of the north can be the principal subject.

The next step, would be to determine the true identity of this king of verse 36, and its relation to the new power of verse 31.

Clarity from Paganism

Verse 31: “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”

Something is removed in order to place something else.  This is not just an announcement of the removal of the fourth kingdom and the placement of the fifth, but it also represents a major shift in the operating strategy of Satan.

This same transition of power is seen in Daniel 12:11, “And from the time that the daily shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”

This text gives us a corresponding prophetic time period that helps us to identify the abomination that maketh desolate.  It is the time period of the 1290 day/years that tell us the length of time that this power rules. Daniel 12:11-12 gives us the time span of the removal of Paganism, and the setting up of Papalism—508 to 538AD, a time span of 30 years—leaving a remainder of 1260 years, giving us the length in years of the Papal rule, which brings us down to the year 1798.

This also lines up with the ‘many days’ of Dan. 11:33, the ‘time of the end’, and the ‘time appointed’ of v35, ‘till the indignation be accomplished’ of v36, and ‘at the time of the end’ of v40.

The Significance of the Move

When considering this in the overall scheme of the succession of kingdoms as outlined in Daniel, this particular move, from Paganism to Papalism, is the key transition in the entire chapter of Daniel 11.  This move on the part of Satan, changes the nature of the persecuting power from the physical realm to the mental realm.

This one thing is the dividing line that governs the application of the precedent that is usually set regarding the kings of the north and south of verse 40.  Up until this fifth kingdom of the Papacy, the kings of the north and south are determined by the literal geographic land that they occupy relative to Israel; but this transition now takes the king of the north and south into the mental/spiritual realm.  This is not to say spiritual as in allegorical, or in type, or figurative; but spiritual as in religious versus secular.  The prophecy remains literal.

In other words, the persecuting power is moving from the male aspect of military might, as manifested in earthly kingdoms, to that of the church, as portrayed by a woman.  It has not lost the civil, but now includes the moral, and this twofold combination is the very nature of the Papacy itself.  It is a marriage of Paganism and Christianity: an amalgamation; and as such, it maintains two distinct personas—the civil and the moral.  The same principle holds true concerning the identity of the king of the south and the king of the north, as they correspondingly operate in two distinct realms, one in the civil, and the other in the moral.

John Agrees with Daniel

The same transition of power is seen in the description of Paganism in Revelation 12, which then gives its power, seat, and great authority, to Papalism in chapter 13.  Papalism in turn gives its power to another entity, that of Apostate Protestantism/Spiritualism/USA, making up the image of the beast.  This transfer of power from Papalism to Protestantism is seen in Daniel 11:38—“But in his estate.”  This point will become very clear as we progress in our study.

This understanding of the transfer of power from Paganism to Papalism, and then to the USA via Apostate Protestantism, brings its own distinct clarity to the seven kings of Revelation 17:10, allowing us to see the same succession of kingdoms outlined in Daniel 2; in this case showing the removal of the fourth kingdom, Pagan Rome, and the setting up of the fifth kingdom, Papal Rome.

Revelation 17:10—“And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”

The five kings that are fallen are: Babylon, Medio Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, and Papal Rome.  The sixth king, the one in place at present, we know to be the United States of America, which is inclusive of the image of the beast—Apostate Protestantism.  The context of Daniel 11:31 is dealing with the time period of the transition from Pagan Rome to Papal Rome—from the fourth to the fifth kingdom.

This transition is confirmed in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10.  As an eye witness of Pagan Rome as the fourth kingdom, Paul informs the church that this power, Pagan Rome, will yet be removed to make way for the ‘Mystery of Iniquity.’  This Mystery of Iniquity is no less than Papal Rome. See also GC 446.1; GC 356.1; AA 265-266.

Conclusion

One of the primary functions of the book of Daniel is to show the succession of kingdoms that, in a special way, are persecutors of God’s people.  Up until verse 31, the main kingdoms of Paganism have been outlined in their order.  Gabriel starts with Medio Persia, since the fall of Babylon has already occurred, Greece is next, then Pagan Rome.  These four kingdoms form the sum of the persecuting powers of Paganism.

Verse 31 details the transition from the Pagan to the Papal form of persecution.  In one sense, this is simply following in the same line of succeeding kingdoms as outlined in Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8 and 9.  As we have already noted, this transition is extremely significant, as Paganism hands its characteristics to Papalism.  The persecuting power now moves away from the secular realm and enters into the spiritual.  It is the mingling of the unholy seed with the holy seed.  This mingling produces two distinct lines of fathers—its Pagan lineage, and its Christian lineage.  This is the point where the woman, or church, becomes involved as a persecuting power, and this is where, in type, Samson’s lion changes forms and becomes sweet in the form of honey.  (Click here for article on Samson’s Riddle)

This one argument alone, the Daily as Paganism, is sufficient to show that the fifth kingdom, that of the Papacy, is the king of v36.  It is interesting to note that the old view of the Daily comes to us as a result of Miller’s rules, and as we progress we will make a more direct application of these rules in order to establish beyond question the identity of the king of verse 36.  This will give us the bearing we need in order to arrive at the correct position of the kings of the south and north.

Moving Forward

In our next article we will be taking a look at Uriah Smith’s position, who contends that the king of v36 is France.  His book, ‘Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation’ has the endorsement of EG White, and because of that endorsement, many in Adventism hold to his interpretation. As we look, the intent is not to simply respond to his position and move on, but to show how he got there, and perhaps more importantly, to reconcile the inconsistency of that view with the clear endorsement of his book by EG White.

It can be demonstrated that as the Jews were not given the present truth for the Millerite time period, neither were the Millerites/Pioneers given the present truth for our time period.  This principle is found in Luke 4:16-30, and shows that for each generation, Christ opens the book, and then closes the book.

Until then,

God Bless!