[Darris McNeely] A Beyond Today viewer wrote me the other day and asked me, “Is ISIS and the Middle East turmoil right now the king of the South? Has that happened?” He was talking about a verse from Daniel 11:40. Let me read it to you. And it’s speaking of the time of the end. “At the time of the end, the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass over.” And so, there are two entities talked about in this verse – the king of the North and the king of the South. And the question, “Is ISIS the current king of the South?” The short answer to that is “No”. This verse has not yet been fulfilled. But we are witnessing as we watch ISIS develop in what was formerly Iraq and Syria carving out what they’re calling a caliphate, sending terrorists into Europe and other parts of the world, threatening the west, raising their fist, beheading people, and creating a great deal of turmoil, terrorist acts, and fear, and wondering in other world capitals, what is taking place? Definitely, we are seeing a push or an attack coming out of that region into Europe and possibly into other countries as well. And we are also seeing the armies coming out of, or troops coming out of the area that is biblically defined as the king of the North, from Europe – right now, posting troops, planes, and arms in the Middle East to attack ISIS. Great Britain just recently authorized the deployment of troops, Germany is sending in troops, France is calling for a coalition in the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris a few weeks ago. And so, there’s a mobilization, but what are we looking at? What are we seeing?

We are not at that particular moment that Daniel 11:40 tells us about. That’s yet to come. There are several other events prophetically that must be fulfilled. But we are seeing, in a sense, a prototype of what could happen, what the Bible does talk about with what is taking place here, because this power out of the Middle East is creating a great deal of turmoil and reaction, and reshaping not only the Middle East, but through its reactions, the European Union, European states, and even America.

Historically an biblically, these two figures – the king of the South and the king of the North – were actually individual beings, people, kings or leaders that rose up out of these regions of the Middle East and even Europe and that area and warred back and forth against each other. We don’t have individuals pinpointed in the news right now that have the ability to do what Daniel 11:40 actually says. That’s yet to come. But we do have powers that are forming and shaping, and events therefore that are moving the world, whether they realize it or not, closer to what this verse and its subsequent passages do talk about. That’s a brief answer to a very important question that recently came in, but it does encourage us and certainly admonishes us to watch world events, to watch the Middle East, and to understand what’s taking place in our world today as we watch for these events to shape up.

That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.