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Description: “The King of the North: Deal with the Devil”

The Devil’s Deal with the King of the North for Supreme Power

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VOICEOVER: Welcome to End Times Today with Author, Speaker, and Bible teacher: John Claeys. This episode is entitled, THE KING OF THE NORTH: DEAL WITH THE DEVIL 

We’d like to remind you what’s available at End Times Today Dot Org. You can sign up for notifications concerning upcoming episodes, watch previous broadcasts, and even send in your own questions for John. 

In addition you can get copies of John’s books by going to End Times Today Dot Org. 

We’ll take a look at THE KING OF THE NORTH: DEAL WITH THE DEVIL in just a moment, but first let’s see what’s happening in our the world right now. Here’s John Claeys

What in the World Is God Doing?

For today’s episode of What in the World Is God Doing?, I want to focus on the exhortations of believers regarding the approach of the rapture and the Tribulation period. If you have been with us at End Times Today, you are aware that we have presented evidence that the rapture of the Church will occur on the very day the Tribulation period will begin. 

In the context of discussing the advent of those two prophetic events, Jesus, in Mt 24, indicates that those events will occur as a “thief in the night” (Mat 24:43). Then He warns believers in His audience: 

Viewer Screen: “ ‘Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect’ ” (Mat 24:36).

Keep in mind that, in Matthew chapters 24 and 25, Jesus is speaking to believers. Thus, by using the term “thief in the night,” He is indicating that much of the Church—believers alive at the time the rapture occurs—will be caught off-guard. 

Viewer Screen: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. ^{. . .}  But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief”  (1Th 5:2, 4).

To go along with that concept, the Apostle Paul warns, in 1 Thess 5:2-4, that believers could, but should not, be caught off-guard as by a “thief in the night” by the initiation of the Tribulation period. 

Based on these exhortations, it appears to me that the Church, as a whole, will be caught off-guard by the rapture / Tribulation period. How can that be? 

Viewer Screen: “ ‘. . . the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.’ ” (Mt 13:22).

In the parable of the soils, Jesus warns that some believers will not finish well because of “ ‘the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.’ ” (Mt 13:22). It appears that many believers will be caught off-guard due to a focus on “the cares of this world.”

Suppose in this country that the COVID virus flattens out, causing life to normalize? And what if the economy continues to grow, etc.? 

My point: As life normalizes, or even gets better, I believe most believers will take their focus off of the coming of Jesus, causing them to be caught “as a thief in the night,” at the rapture and the initiation of the Tribulation period. 

Let’s not be caught off-guard as life appears to get better for us. Instead, keep looking up!

This is: “What in the World Is God Doing?”

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR MUSIC AND VOICEOVER

VOICEOVER: Thanks John! If you’ve got questions, about current events, you can send them to John by going to Endtimestoday.org. Now, let’s take a look at what in the Bible God is saying to us, as we take a look THE KING OF THE NORTH: DEAL WITH THE DEVIL Here’s John to explain.

What in the Bible Is God Saying?

“The King of the North: Deal with the Devil”

Viewer Screen: A Scene from the Exorcist: Knowing Christ, S. Craig Glickman, p 37

The Exorcist, one of the most profitable horror films of all time, opens with a powerfully symbolic archaeological site near Nineveh in Iraq. In his book, Knowing Christ, Craig Glickman describes the opening scene in this way:

It is a remarkable site. The huge setting sun seems to rest like a gigantic fireball on the desert. A statue of an idol is on one side; the archaeological priest is on the other, and they face each other in conflict. In the foreground, two vicious dogs tear at each other’s throats. And, quite ingeniously, this symbolism is from the ‘Greater Trump’ card of the Tarot deck used by fortunetellers. It is said to symbolize the conditions of hell. The scene is ominous, dreadful, heavy, and oppressive with the weight of evil it signifies. (S. Craig Glickman, Knowing Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 37)

The movie goes on to portray Satan’s power in an impressive fashion. A twelve-year-old girl’s life is taken over by one of Satan’s emissaries—a demon. Religious leaders in the form of priests are unable to overcome this power and, instead, are shown to be humiliatingly weak in the presence of this demon. Finally, at the height of an exorcism performed on the girl, one priest dies of a heart attack, while another shouts at the demon to enter him. The demon responds to the invitation, at which point the priest throws himself through the bedroom window to his death in an attempt to keep the evil spirit from taking the girl’s life. The film ends with Reagan, the formerly possessed girl, and her mother, leaving town to begin a new life. 

At the release of this 1973 movie, many slept with their lights on, fearing the power of Satan. But what they did not realize is that it is God—not Satan—who is sovereign. God the Creator is infinitely more powerful than Satan his creation; Satan can only exhibit the power God allows him to have. 

Viewer Screen: The Deal with the Devil

But God has allowed Satan to make a deal. It is an arrangement Satan makes with a former king in order to become a future king. The deal is that this king will rule the world if he will worship Satan. But before making the deal with the King of the North, Satan offered this deal to Jesus. Let’s look at it in Luke 4:5–8: 

Viewer Screen: “Then the devil, . . . showed Him [Jesus] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours’ ” (Lk 4:5-7).

This scene occurred at the very beginning of the public 3½-year ministry of Jesus, immediately after being baptized by John the Baptist. Following a 40-day fast in the wilderness, Satan takes Jesus up to a high mountain, and, in one of the three temptations the devil brings before Jesus, He offers Jesus the opportunity to rule the entire world.

Does Satan have the authority to make that offer? In reality, at that point—prior to the cross—he did. 

The authority to rule the world had been handed to Satan by Adam and Eve, who were given the authority by God to rule the earth. But they then handed over to Satan that authority to rule when they gave in to the Devil’s temptation. As a result, Satan became “the ruler of this world.” 

In fact, three times in the Gospel of John—12:31; 14:30; 16:11—Jesus calls Satan the ruler of this world. The Apostle John announces that the entire world lies under his rule (1 John 5:19), and the Apostle Paul calls the devil the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). 

This means that before Christ won back the world through His death and resurrection, Satan could make the offer as a legitimate one. This is why when Satan tempted him, Jesus did not dispute his claim to be able to grant the authority to rule the world. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the offer could no longer be legitimately made. At the cross, Jesus defeated Satan and won back the world; He will claim the world and will rule over it at His return. But this offer to Jesus was prior to the cross. 

As the devil put it,  

Viewer Screen: “ ‘. . . if You will worship before me, all will be Yours’” (Luke 4:7).

“Worship before me” indicates two things. It means Jesus must worship Satan in order to receive his offer. In addition, the term “before” indicates a public demonstration. Satan is requiring more than worshipping him in a private sense; he wants Jesus to let others know who His true god really is. 

Here is the response by Jesus: 

Viewer Screen: “  ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” ’ ” (Lk 4:8).

Jesus would not take a short-cut to rule. Instead, He would perfectly submit to God the Father and endure suffering, and even death, on the way toward rule in God’s coming kingdom. And, in making that determination, He became the perfect example to us, showing us that the path toward rule in God’s kingdom is paved with suffering by submitting to God through it.

Satan, having been spurned by his number one choice to be ruler over his kingdom, then made this same offer to the man who will become the beast. That man has accepted the offer to rule under Satan’s conditions. who will give him his power, his throne, and great authority. 

How do we know Satan already made this offer to someone else? Since Satan only had the authority to make this offer before the cross, it had to be made prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. 

As a result, Satan will grant the King of the North incredible power to rule and to make war. This future king will begin his rise from Iraq, the same country from which The Exorcist begins its presentation of the power of Satan. 

Viewer Screen: The Ascent Begins: 220 Days After the Rapture

Previously on End Times Today, we saw that 220 days following the rapture of the church, the King of the North will arise to power from the Middle East. We learned that he is an Assyrian by heritage living in Iraq when he begins his ascent to power. This is the same Assyrian king whom OT prophets tell us will meet his doom in the land of Israel by the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus returns to the earth. But, before the arrival of that fateful day, this king will be a conqueror.  

We encountered the King of the North in Daniel 11, where we learned he will make an amazing rise out of obscurity. Here is what we learn about him in Dan 11:36:

Viewer Screen: “ ‘Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done’ ” (Dan 11:36).

Much is revealed in this verse. First, we see that he will do whatever he wants; no one will stop him from getting anything he desires. This indicates he will possess great power and authority. 

We also learn that this king will set himself above all gods, including the one true God, whom he blasphemes. What is implied here is that he will be worshipped as god.

This description is similar to that provided in 2 Thess 2:4, where we find this depiction:

Viewer Screen:  “. . . who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess 2:2:4). 

Here we also see that this ruler will enter into the temple of God to be worshipped as God. In returning to Dan 11:36, we see that this king:

Viewer Screen: “. . . shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished” (Dan 11:36).

The “wrath” refers to the indignation (Dan 8:19) this king will pour out on Jewish followers of Jesus during the Great Tribulation. Though this wrath represents the king’s vile persecution upon Jewish followers of Jesus, it will be intended by God for His good purpose, as God is in control of all that occurs. He will allow it to continue until its accomplishment of what he has determined—for Israel and for the preparation of His coming kingdom. 

God will use the wrath of the king to awaken the hearts of Jews in Israel to the gospel, and to propel their spiritual growth after believing in Jesus. In the same way God uses trials and suffering for all believers, He will use the king’s wrath for Jewish believers:

Viewer Screen: “ ‘. . . to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end’ ” (Dan 11:35). 

God uses persecution and suffering in the lives of His children that they might “be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). This is to prepare them to gloriously rule with Jesus in His kingdom. 

This is the way God works. He seeks to not only bring people to believe in Jesus for kingdom entrance, He also prepare them after believing for an even greater experience (reward) in His kingdom. Suffering is required to accomplish conformity to Christ. Thus, God will allow the king to bring wrath against Jewish believers until “the wrath has been accomplished.”

Until he is vanquished by Christ at his return, this king shall prosper. He “shall do according to his own will,” experiencing great success in advancing his power and purposes in accomplishing what he desires. Thus, he will appear to be unstoppable. 

This king will ascend to great power, placing himself above all gods—including the God of gods. But, unbeknown to him, he will be used ironically as a tool of God, as the king pours out his persecuting wrath upon followers of Jesus. 

In Dan 11:37–39, we learn where the king gets his power to make such an incredible rise from apparent obscurity, beginning with verse 37:

Viewer Screen: “ ‘He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all’ ” (Dan 11:37).

 First we learn he will have nothing to do with the God of his ancestors and will not “regard . . . the desire of women.”

The desire of women may be a reference to “the natural desire of Jewish women to become the mother of the promised Messiah, the seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15.” If so, this expression is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, which would fit the context. Since Assyrians consider themselves Christian, this meaning of the phrase makes even more sense: The Assyrian king will not regard the God of his ancestors (who are Christian), nor Jesus (who is God to his ancestors), nor any god. 

As we continue in Dan 11, we observe the following revelation of the king’s god

Viewer Screen: “ ‘But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain’ ” (Dan 11:38-39).

Verse 38 announces that the king will seemingly “elevate himself above all gods.” He will have a god, just not one his ancestors ever recognized as their God. But the god he worships will elevate him above every recognized god. 

So, what is the identity of this god? When we realize this king of the North will become the beast of Revelation, turn to Rev 13:4 to answer this question:

Viewer Screen: “So they [the unbelieving world] worshiped the dragon [Satan] who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast” (Rev 11:4). 

The Dragon, Satan, will give authority to the beast to be worshipped as god by the world. The identity of the Dragon is revealed in Rev 12:9 and 20:2 as “that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan.” This means the king will worship Satan. 

Viewer Screen: “ ‘But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain’ ” (Dan 11:38-39).

This leads us back to verses 38–39 of Dan 11, where we learn this king will “honor a god of fortresses.” The Hebrew word translated fortresses in these verses is used in Dan 11:31 to refer to the Jewish temple. This indicates that the fortressesof the god worshipped by the king of the North are temples erected to his god. 

According to verse 38, he will worship his god with “gold, silver, precious stones, and pleasant things.” There is a good reason why he will worship his god in that way, a reason displayed in a description of Satan found in God’s address to Lucifer: 

Viewer Screen: “ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. . . . You were the anointed cherub’ ” (Ezekiel 28:12–14). 

From this passage, we learn that Lucifer was associated with beautiful, precious stones and pleasant things. Because he was created in radiant perfection and associated with the beauty of precious stones and pleasant things. It seems that Satan accepts those things as worship in tribute to his splendor. 

As we return to Dan 11, we observe that the king will:

Viewer Screen:  “. . . act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god”(Dan 11:39). 

This means the king will advance and promote worship of his god by changing temples currently existing as places of worship of other gods to temples of worship to his god. 

The king will use these fortresses to advance his rule over many by causing people everywhere to worship Lucifer at these temples. The king will establish these places of worship everywhere in order to make worship of Lucifer more accessible to more people, thus advancing not only the worship of Satan but also worship of the king (verse 39). 

The king’s worship of Satan—and his aggressive promotion of Lucifer worship—solve the mystery of this man’s meteoric rise from apparent obscurity to king of the world in less than three years. The king’s rapid ascension will occur due to Satan’s powerful backing. 

Join us next time here on End Times Today as we discover the path the king will take in going from Middle Eastern ruler to king of the world. See you next time  as we explore “The King of the North: Conqueror / Invader.” 

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR MUSIC AND VOICEOVER

VOICEOVER: Thank you John for helping understand these eerie moves of the King of the north. Before we go let’s take a look at a question from a viewer just like you. You can send questions by going to endtimestoday.org.

Questions / Answers

Q: Diane in Arkansas Writes: How can looking for Jesus’ imminent return (at any moment) fit the teaching of the sign of when this treaty signed or goes into effect? --- Diane, Arkansas

A: First of all, the Bible does not use the term “imminency” or “imminent.” We need to understand that is a theological term coined by men.

Secondly, the dictionary definitions for imminent are: "impending, close (at hand), near, (fast) approaching, anticipated, expected, looming," etc. I believe the rapture is imminent in terms of those definitions and so is the inauguration of the Tribulation period.  

Even though a treaty needs to be convened with Israel so the Tribulation period can begin, it can be imminent as defined by standard dictionaries.

What did the concept of imminence mean to Jesus? Keep in mind that Jesus predicted that Israel would wrest control of Jerusalem from the Gentiles (Lk 21:24). After all, as part of fulfilling the treaty of Daniel 9:27, the temple needs to be rebuilt which can hardly occur without Jewish control of Jerusalem. Thus, the six-day war of 1967 needed to occur first, with Israel taking control of Jerusalem.

In addition, Jesus predicted that Peter would grow old and die in a particular fashion. If Jesus was correct (which, of course, He was), then the rapture could not occur prior to Peter’s old age and death. 

Could there be other events (not found in Scripture) that could occur that could signal that we are getting very close to the rapture of the Church and the Day of the Lord? Absolutely! After all, how could the world proclaim “Peace and security (1 Thess 5:3) with terrorism continuing to run rampant? Might some event lead to a swift-domino-effect of events that could quell terrorism in the eyes of the world prior to the treaty with Israel being inked? I believe so. In fact, it is hard to see that Iran could still be racing toward nuclear capability while world leaders proclaim they have achieved “Peace and security.”

However, none of that eliminates the doctrine of imminency (as defined by standard dictionaries), unless one redefines imminent. 

However, even though events could occur that show the rapture and the Tribulation are drawing near, most people (including most Christians) still will still not heed, just as the world did not heed the preaching of Noah for one hundred twenty years.

FULL STOP. WAIT FOR OUTRO VOICEOVER. 

VOICEOVER: Thanks so much to John, for the information in today’s fascinating program. Don’t forget, If you’d like to sign up for notifications, see recent episodes, get copies of John’s books, or even ask John a question you can do that and more at ENDTIMESTODAY.ORG. In addition if you are interested in becoming a financial pattern with this or any of the shows produced by Free Grace International, you can donate at endtimestoday.org. Thanks for watching and we will see you next time on End Times Today, With John Claeys.