Monthly Archives: February 2020

Out of the North, Part II of III

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So as mentioned, invasions of Israel tended to come out of the North. Isaiah talks of a ruler whom God has raised up to trample evil rulers underfoot.

“I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun one who calls on my name: and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.” Isa 41:25 WEB

Notice how strangely Isaiah speaks of this one. He is “raised up … from the north,” yet he has come “from the rising of the sun,” which is actually East. Yet it says this is “one who calls on my name”? It doesn’t sound like a pagan ruler. We will have to come back to this reference. Others are clearer.

Jeremiah is preaching to an evil nation,
one that deserves punishment!

He starts off saying that punishment is coming, and is coming from the North.

“The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, What see you? I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face of it is from the north. Then Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Yahweh; and they shall come, and they shall set everyone his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls of it round about, and against all the cities of Judah.” Jer 1:13-15 WEB

It is time for them to run for their lives, Jeremiah says.

“Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.” Jer 6:1 WEB

A people will come from the North. It is clearly implied that it is the Lord who is stirring them up.

“Thus says Yahweh, Behold, a people comes from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.” Jer 6:22 WEB

And it is clear it is God Himself
who is doing this.

“behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and I will send to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.” Jer 25:9

Even Babylon, though she is God’s chosen instrument for vengeance for the sins of Israel and others, when it comes her time, it will still come from the North.

“For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; … ” Jer 50:9 WEB

But not all of the references to the North
fit this mold.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Out of the North, Part I of III

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Directions are a normal thing in almost anything of a historical nature, and that is also true of Scripture. The orientation of things or borders are mentioned in the accounts, and much of this is very ordinary citation of directions, but sometimes directions go beyond the ordinary.

Some of the directions relate to how Israel
was situated in the Middle East

For instance the Kings of the North and the Kings of the South in Daniel chapter 11. The Persians came to rule the East, and Daniel’s other visions seem to indicate that the Greeks will come next (Dan 8:21). Daniels visions indicate a powerful “first king” of a Greek empire, which obviously refers to Alexander the Great. Even though Alexander conquered a considerable empire, reaching all the way to India, he died young. His empire then was split between four of his leading generals. They are represented by four horns of Dan 8:8, 22; or four wings of Dan 7:6.

This map shows part of the original division of Alexander the Great’s empire after his death. The Kings of the North of Daniel 11 are the Seuleucid kings who were North of Palestine, who ruled Syria, Mesopatamia, Armenia, etc. The kings of the South in Daniel 11 are the Ptolemaic (the initial “P” is silent, much as in the English word “psychology”) kings Egypt. This map show that initially the Ptolemies ruled Palestine, but this changed when the Seleucids conquered Palestine in 198 BC.

The immediate point of reference in Daniel 11 seems to be Judah herself in the land of Palestine. In the times of the Greek rulers, North of Judah was the powerful Seleucid empire of the Greeks, and South of Judah was the powerful Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt.

An image from a coin, of Seleucus I Nictor (Victor), the first of the Seleucid “kings of the North” of Daniel 11.

Seen from this point of view, the Kings of the the North, and the the South of Daniel 11 begin to make some sense. We even know a great deal about these two powerful dynasties. The very first King of the North was Seleucus I Nictor (Victor), and we have images of him through ancient statuary and coins. They were the immediate winners in these contests and came to rule Palestine. The first king of the South was Ptolemy I Lagi Soter (Great Savior) and we also have images of him.

Ptolemy I Lagi Soter (Great Savior), the first of the “kings of the South,” rulers of Egypt. The last of the Ptolemies was the famous Cleopatra of the first century BC, who formed a fatal alliance with Mark Anthony.

I said that Daniel 11 began to make sense, and it does, but only to a point. Then the last part of Daniel 11 doesn’t match anything we know of ancient or modern times. It is almost as if the Lord changes the subject, which in fact I think He does. It is a colloquail syntax that is often used in prophecy, with unannounced swithching back and forth between subjects, much as in a human conversation. Such is common in Biblical prophecy, with the known part being symbolic of that which is yet to come. Those of a liberal persuasion often treat these things as failed prophecies, never considering a switch of subjects, or the immediate being symbolic of things yet to come. There is a more complete discussion of Daniel 11 in Prophecy Principles.

And there are other factors concerning the North.

In ancient times it came about that Egypt was no longer the first-rate power she had been. Far stronger were the great land powers of Assyria, Babylon and Persia. But if they wanted to invade Israel or Egypt, they could not consider a direct approach. A direct approach would take these powers across logistically impassable deserts to the East of Israel. So to invade they first had to go North to the region of Haran, and then go South toward Israel or Egypt.

So after a certain point, invasions of Israel, and retribution from foreign powers tended to always come from the North.