Study Desk

"The southern king will become strong, but then one of his commanders will defeat him. The commander will begin to rule, and he will be very powerful.

The northern king will attack the southern kingdom. But he will lose, and then he will go back to his own country.

The northern king will get another army that will be larger than the first one. After several years he will attack. His army will be ready for war. It will be very large and it will have many weapons.

The northern king will decide to use all his power to fight against the southern king, and he will make an agreement with the southern king. The king of the north will let one of his daughters marry the southern king so that he can defeat the southern king. But those plans will not succeed. His plans will not help him.

"Then the northern king will turn his attention to the countries along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He will defeat many of those cities, but then a commander will put an end to the pride and rebellion of that northern king. The commander will make the northern king ashamed.

"After that happens, the northern king will go back to the strong forts of his own country. But he will be weak and will fall. He will be finished.

"When the richest countries feel safe, that cruel and hated ruler will attack them. He will attack at just the right time and will be successful where his ancestors were not successful. He will take things from the countries he defeated, and he will give them to his followers. He will plan to defeat and destroy strong cities. He will be successful—but only for a short time.

"That very cruel and hated ruler will have a very large army. He will use that army to show his strength and courage and attack the southern king. The southern king will get a very large and powerful army and go to war. But the people who are against him will make secret plans, and the southern king will be defeated.

People who were supposed to be good friends of the southern king will try to destroy him. His army will be defeated. Many of his soldiers will be killed in battle.

"The northern king will go back to his own country with much wealth. Then he will decide to do bad things against the holy agreement. He will do the things he planned, and then he will go back to his own country.

Ships from Cyprus will come and fight against the northern king. He will see those ships coming and be afraid. Then he will turn back and take out his anger on the holy agreement. He will turn back and help those who stopped following the holy agreement.

The northern king will send his army to do terrible things to the Temple in Jerusalem. They will stop the people from offering the daily sacrifice. Then they will do something really terrible. They will set up that terrible thing that causes destruction.

"That northern king will not care about the gods his ancestors worshiped. He will not care about the gods women worship. He will not care about any god. Instead, he will praise himself and make himself more important than any god.

The northern king will not worship any god, but he will worship power. Power and strength will be his god. His ancestors didn't love power as he does. He will honor the god of power with gold and silver, expensive jewels, and gifts.

The northern king will show his power in many countries. Egypt will also learn how powerful he is.

He will set up his king's tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. But finally, that bad king will die. There will be no one to help him when his end comes.

The man dressed in linen and standing over the water lifted his right and left hands toward heaven. And I heard him make a promise using the name of God who lives forever. He said, "It will be for three and one-half years. The power of the holy people will be broken, and then all these things will finally come true."

After this, the people of Israel will come back and look for the Lord their God and for David their king. In the last days they will come to honor the Lord and his goodness.

The Lord has given many things to Israel. He is like a shepherd who takes his sheep to a large field with plenty of grass. But Israel is stubborn like a young cow that runs away again and again.

"Ephraim has joined his idols, so leave him alone.