Unraveling the Conflation

Author: Carmine Hetrick (Page 1 of 2)

Are the 1,290 and 1,335 days of Daniel 12 Literal or Figurative?

Introduction

“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

Daniel 12:11-12

The durations of 1,290 and 1,335 days in these verses are some of the most perplexing in all of the Bible. Countless commentators have tried to match these durations with significant events or milestones in Israel’s history with disappointing results. Candidates for events being referenced in these verses include Israel’s return from the Babylonian captivity, Israel’s persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes and the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in the first century AD. But try as they may, commentators just can’t seem to find any precise correspondence between these numbers and any significant events in Israel’s history. Some come close, but the numbers never work out exactly.

One wonders, if the intent of these passages was to give us literal measurements of time and if any of the events identified to-date by commentators are the events that are truly in view in the prophecy, why were such specific and precise measurements chosen in Daniel 12 if, in the end, they were still just approximations? This gives us adequate reason to suspect that these numbers have a less obvious purpose and their values have some symbolic significance.

In this post, we try our hand at deciphering the elusive meaning of these verses by taking a look at some intriguing properties of these numbers and how they compare to other observations we have made regarding other numbers that are used in prophetic portions of Scripture.

The Career of Revelation’s Beast from the Sea

The most plain observation regarding these numbers is that they are approximations for another fairly specific number that is found in Scripture. That number is 1,260 and is found in some contexts that have much in common with the context of Daniel 12.

The beast in Revelation 12 has a career that lasts for 1,260 days/42 months (Revelation 11:2; 13:5). We are told that this career will also begin after 42 months/1,260 days (Revelation 11:3,7). The beast’s counterpart, the dragon, is prevented from harming the woman in the wilderness for 1,260 days/time, times and half a time (Revelation 12:6,14). The expression “time, times and half a time” is also found in the book of Daniel in similar contexts, one being Daniel 12, our immediate area of interest (Daniel 7:25; 12:7).

It doesn’t take much imagination to appreciate that this 42-month period is exactly half of 7 years. Apparently, the 42 months is parallel to 1,260 days because they are depicted as equivalent measures of the same duration. From this, we can conclude that the years being alluded to are not quite the normal 365 days in length. This is because, for half of 7 years to work out to 1,260 days, the years can only be 360 days long. This has been noticed by other commentators and is important in some calculations concerning the timing of the 70-weeks from Daniel 9.

For our purposes though, this 360-day year is important for another reason. The difference between the 1,335 days and the 1,290 days is 45 days. 45 days is exactly one-eight of a 360-day year. As Daniel 12:12 points out, the person who reaches the 1,335 days is ‘blessed` (H835esher). This word is related to the Hebrew name Asher who was the 8th son of Jacob. This accounts for the word-play used by his mother Leah when she named him (Genesis 30:13). Asher was also considered most blessed out of all the other tribes in another context (Deuteronomy 33:24-25). The very Hebrew word for the number eight [H8083] is related to the concept of prosperity and fatness [H8082] due to its relationship to the number 7. Strong’s tells us that 8 is related to the concept of plenteous or richness “through the idea of plumpness; a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the ‘perfect’ seven)”.

The number 8 is extremely important in biblical prophecy and is significant throughout Scripture as covered in many of my articles. Eight is particularly significant in Daniel and in the book of Revelation. It’s probably no coincidence that the 8th king of Revelation 17 appears to be related to the 8th king who is implied in Daniel 7:7-8 (i.e. the 11th little horn who uprooted 3 before it effectively making it the 8th). It is Revelation’s 8th king who is identified as a Beast, appears to be the Sea Beast of Revelation 13, and is a rebirth of all of the beasts in Daniel 7.

Clearly, the fact that the difference between the 1,335 days and the 1,290 days is 1/8th of a 360-day year is no small coincidence. This observation begins to highlight the symbolic element to these numbers and their connection to the Sea-Beast of Revelation. Similar to the significant fraction of 1/8th determined in connection with the 45-day difference earlier, it can also be noted at this point that the 30-day difference between the 1,290 days and the 1,260 days which Revelation equates to the period of “time, times and half a time” found in Daniel is 1/12th of a 360-day year. 12 is a symbolic number central to Scripture, especially as it concerns Israel and the Messiah as well as the 12 months in the yearly cycle of the earth around the sun. Both differences result in fractions of a year that have eschatological significance.

Given the close association of the Beast and these numbers, it’s worthwhile to take a look at another very specific number associated with this beast and his career. That number is 666 (Revelation 13:18). We are about to see that the connection between 666 and 1,260 predates the association found in Revelation in a different but closely related context. That context is in the account of Solomon and his misuse of power and wealth.

Solomon’s Wealth

In this context, we find that Solomon was eventually accumulating 666 talents of gold yearly (1 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13). In these very same passages, we also find that the wisest man ever to exist was king Solomon (1 Kings 3:12; 4:30; 10:23). It cannot be coincidence that we are told that both 666 and the eighth king requires a mind with wisdom to understand (Revelation 13:8; 17:9). And immediately before our perplexing numbers in Daniel 12, we are told that the wise would understand (Daniel 12:10) . Again, these elements point us back to this section of Solomon’s reign. But, these 666 talents of gold were not Solomon’s sole source of gold.

He also received 120 talents of gold from the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:10; 2 Chronicles 9:9) and the same amount from Hiram the king of Tyre (1 Kings 9:14) plus an additional 420 talents from the same king (1 Kings 9:27-28; note that 2 Chronicles 8:18 instead records 450 talents). Notice, the multiple of forty-two in this context and its parallel in the 42-month period of Revelation concerning the Beast. Coincidence?

What’s more, the total of all of these amounts is 1,326 (120 + 120 + 420 + 666). This is another very specific number that is obviously quite close to 1,335. Since the difference of Daniel’s approximations of 1,260 appears to be significant and points to the symbolic number 8 already in focus in our correlation between Solomon and eschatological symbols of the NT and focal points throughout Daniel and the OT, we might wonder if there is some significance to the differences between the numbers in Daniel 12 and the grand totals of Solomon’s documented wealth. What we find is that there certainly is significance in those differences too.

Indeed, in the case of 1,326 and 1,335, the difference is 9. 9 just happens to be a perfect square. Likewise, the difference between 1,326 and 1,290 is 36, another perfect square. If there were no intentional link between the numbers in Daniel 12 and Solomon’s gold, it’s highly improbable that these differences would share such an unlikely property as being perfect squares.

While my main point is captured in the table above, there are a few incidental observations that may be worth noting as well. 1,326 itself is also special because it is a triangular number. 1,326 is the triangular of 51. In like fashion, 666 is also the triangular of 36, the perfect square of 6 as mentioned previously. The number 6 itself is the triangular of 3 and also its double. Like perfect squares (cf. 1,600 – Revelation 14:20, 144 – Revelation 7:4; 14:1,3; 21:17), triangular numbers have special significance in Scripture. And for good reason. I explain some of this significance in my article “The 8th Scarlet King-Beast of Revelation 17 and the Octavii Rufi” in the section concerning the anti-messianic character of Pythagoras and his connection to Emperors Nero and Octavian and the 10 horns of Revelation 17. (Note also, that 10 is the triangular of 4, being half of 8). Notice also the double-occurrence of 120 in these passages. It’s not surprising that 120 is also a triangular number – the triangular of 15. But 120 is recursively triangular because 15 itself is the triangular of 5. The number 5 also just happens to be half of 10 (cf. the relationship between 10, 4, and 8 previously mentioned).

An Odd Discrepancy

Earlier we mentioned that in the parallel passages in 2 Chronicles, the alternate figure of 450 talents from 2 Chronicles is used in place of 420 from 1 Kings. This alternate value brings the total concerning all of Solomon’s gold to 1,356 (120 + 120 + 450 + 666). This is just 21 over 1,335. 21 is the triangular of 6. It is also just 66 over 1,290. 66 is the triangular of 12. So, in place of the differences of perfect squares above, we end up with differences that are both triangular numbers instead. As in the case of the perfect squares, if there were no intentional link between the numbers in Daniel 12 and Solomon’s gold, it’s highly unlikely that these differences would share such an improbable property as being triangular numbers.

Again, while my main point is captured in the above table, there are a few incidental observations in this case that also suggest that there is a special significance to these numbers. In the case of the difference of 21, we can note that this is also half of 42. The number 21 also occurs in Daniel 10:13, the chapter that opens the section ending with the chapter containing our cryptic numbers. This 21 occurs in connection with Michael who is seen again in Daniel 12:1. Further, in the case of both 21 and 66, each of these differences bear a special relationship to 6, just as in 666.

But, aside from the various incidental observations mentioned above, the main point is that regardless of whether 420 or 450 is used in the calculations, the resulting symmetry concerning the types of differences in each pair is striking. If we were not meant to connect the 1,290 and 1,335 from Daniel 12 with Solomon’s accumulation of gold, these differences would certainly not exhibit this pattern in the differences. The odds of this pattern occurring by pure chance are practically 0%. Therefore, the pattern was deliberately placed here for a purpose and providing a link between Daniel 12 and Solomon’s gold appears to have been that purpose.

Building on the link between the 1,260 days of the beast’s reign of Revelation 11-13 and the1,290/1,335 days in Daniel 12, it’s also no coincidence this beast’s number (666) occurs in the verses immediately after the accounts of the Queen of Sheba’s visitation to Solomon and her gift of gold (1 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13). It’s not the specific amount of gold that she gave Solomon but it’s referenced right in her immediate context. Compare this to the mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16-18; 17:3,7-8,11; 19:20). It’s also strange that a multiple of 12 (i.e. 120) should show up in connection with the gold contributed by the her since she also has an important eschatological role. That role can be found in the words of Jesus in the Sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31).

“The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31

The Queen of the South here is unquestionably the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon in the aforementioned context. Sheba is most likely a Hebrew word-play for the number seven. Observe that she would rise in the judgment to condemn “this generation”. After the mention of the Queen in this “Sign of Jonah” is given, a mere four verses later, Jesus directly parallels His statements in Matthew 23:13-39 concerning the judgment on the “wicked generation” (Luke 11:37-52). Preterists generally identify “this generation” as the Harlot found in Revelation 17 who is judged by the 8th King-Beast and the 10 horns (Revelation 17:16-17). Surely it is of paramount symbolic significance that both a Queen so strongly associated with the number 7 and a king identified as the 8th in a sequence of kings arise to judge the same entity. Further, both royal judges are directly linked to separate instances of the number 666 which only occurs in one other place in scripture! These numbers are all clearly symbolic of something. The same likely applies to the 1,290 and 1,335 days as well. The question remains, what exactly are they meant to tell us?

Also, the second 120 talents came from the King of Tyre who incidentally was very displeased with the towns Solomon had gifted him in response. This king Hiram called the region that these towns were in the Land of Kabul [H3521 – כבול] (1 Kings 9:13). Kabul is rooted in words meaning clothed and restraints like cuffs for wrists and ankles. Kabul was also the name of a city on the border of the territory of Asher (Joshua 19:27). It could also be a word-play on buwl [H945 – בול], the eighth month of the Hebrew calendar in which Solomon finished building the temple (1 Kings 6:38). Compare בול to כבול. Kabul is also significant as a word-play on the phrase “good for nothing”. Word-plays like these are significant as expressions that have dual-meanings and are closely associated with the confusion of languages at Babel/Babylon.

Notice also that the king of Tyre also collected gold for Solomon every three years from the land of Tarshish (2 Chronicles 9:21). For the messianic significance of Tarshish, Jonah and the Queen of Sheba, see the subsection “Eight-Linked Chain Between The Queen of Seven and Jonah” from my post “The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King“. For astounding connections between the kings of Tyre, Babylon, the 8th judge of Israel and the number 42, see the section “The King of Babylon” in “Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon“.

Conclusion

The 1,290 and 1,335 days do not appear to deviate from 1,260 for the simple purpose of demarcating significant milestone events to occur after the 1,260 days. Rather, they were approximations which differed from 1,260 for the purpose of drawing our attention to Solomon’s accumulation of gold. When we follow those hints, we find that the events surrounding Solomon seemed to have typological significance foreshadowing eschatological events and the NT confirms this with its usage of the Queen of Sheba/Seven and 8th King Beast as symbols of two co-judges of the Harlot/wicked generation.

The differences between the numbers in Daniel 12 and the totals of Solomon’s gifted talents of gold suggests ‘pairing’ on two major levels. These were the differences that resulted alternatively in extremely unlikely pairs of rare and special numbers, specifically squares and triangulars. There were several other suspicious suggestions of pairing (42 being a number of duality, two gifts of 120 talents of gold, two gifts of gold from the king of Tyre). Having seen all of this, it may be compelling to point out now that even 666 is half of 1,332 which is just 3 shy of 1,335. Thus, even in the number 666, we have a likely allusion to this duality. If not duality itself, inferring that duality is already being highlighted by the other correlations and applying that duality to 666 results in another correlation between the numbers in Daniel 12, the 1,260 day persecution of the Beast and Solomon’s gold.

Therefore, this supports what has been my contention throughout several articles. That is that 1,260 days is suggestive of half of a seven-year period and since 7 is suggestive of pertinence to final things, then half of seven in an eschatological context implies that there are two major historical components to which those final things apply. Said another way, contexts that set our focus on half of seven likely describe events that will have the aspects that are described in the context manifest as parallel events in both of these historical components. The context in which allusions to half of 7 occur is very probably simultaneously describing events that will take place at two distinct periods in history. These components are not necessarily successive, mutually exclusive events. As we’ve seen in the case of the prophetic concept of a “generation”, the two components in view were actually one within another. That is, one prophetic entity foreshadows events involving an encompassing superset which includes the minor prophetic entity. The local, wicked generation contemporary to Jesus was merely a subset or representative of the wicked people from all of human history, from its beginning to its very end.

The numbers 1,290 and 1,335 are given as hints that there are to be two phases to what was being described in the context of Daniel 12. This manner of expression is more explicit about this duality than the singular mention of 1,260 alluded to by the “time, times and half a time” earlier in the same chapter. 1,260 merely alludes to a description of two events with parallels as described in the text. On the other hand, the approximations 1,290 and 1,335 are two totally different numbers that each explicitly apply to two different yet related periods of time. Each period would seem likely to exhibit these same parallels, but they would be more intense in some sense in the second phase resulting in greater characteristic blessing.

This is all consistent with observations documented elsewhere in our studies on duality in the eschatological prophecies of the New Testament which have several parallels to the messianic prefigurement found in Solomon and his accumulation of wealth. When we identified the real-world counterparts symbolized by both the Queen of Sheba and the 8th king in my article “The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King“, we discovered that the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King” each judge the “wicked generation” but they each apply to a different aspect of its dual-nature. I also covered a great deal of independent evidence that Christ used the term “generation” primarily in an apocalyptic sense that had a demonstrable dual meaning in my posts “The Dual-Nature of Christ’s Generation” and “How the Judgment on Christ’s “Generation” Contradicts Old Testament Prophecies of the Final Judgment“. The number 42 played an important role in demonstrating this duality.

As with 1,260 days, 42-months is exactly half of 7 years. Seven is a number of finality and is associated with predictions concerning final things. Contexts that contain numbers like 42 that are associated with half of 7 likely pertain to two different prophetic events that share many parallels described in the text. Such splitting is actually quite common in Scripture and is the fundamental principle underlying the concept of typology. Therefore, like the 1,260 day parallel to 42-months, the 1,290 and 1,335 days of Daniel 12 would seem to be credible indicators that there are two prophetic events simultaneously in view in the surrounding verses.

Further, the second phase of these events would be far more significant than the first. Hence, the ‘blessing’ promised to those who made it beyond the 1,290 days to the 1,335 days. They also draw our attention to the typological portions of Solomon and his encounter with the Queen of the South/Sheba/Seven, particularly his connection to the mark of the beast (i.e. 666) and hints that this Queen and King would be reunited with even greater significance in a messianic context. And that’s exactly what we find in the NT depictions of the judgment of the Harlot of Revelation 17 and the wicked generation in the Sign of Jonah.

As we’ve seen on other occasions within Daniel, especially concerning the partial destruction of the 4th beast of Daniel 7, the preservation of the first 3 beasts and the anticipated reconstitution of them all which was realized in Revelation 13, we are given the expectation in Daniel 12 that there are likely two aspects to many of these events. Some of them pertain to the near future, some to the far future and some that will have parallels in both. Some potential examples for these parallels include the raising of Michael, the time of distress, the breaking of the power of the holy people, the abomination of desolation, and resurrection of the dead. And we see similar sorts of evidence of these things in other areas of Scripture. We’ll explore those in future articles.


For most Pretersists (Full and Partial alike), the question concerning to whom in Matthew 23-24 Jesus was referring with the phrase “this generation” is a done deal. He meant His contemporaries and only them. Period. Slam dunk. Nothing to debate here. This is Preterism 101. As a Partial Preterist myself, I was once very confident of this fact too. But, I can honestly say I don’t believe this anymore. There are many reasons for this but one big tip off comes from comparing the words of Jesus to those of Jeremiah 31.

In Matthew 23:35, when speaking harshly to the Pharisees regarding their hypocrisy and wickedness in murdering God’s prophets, Jesus says,

“And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Matthew 23:35 NIV

Take note of what Jesus depicts here. He describes “this generation” being held accountable for the blood of people that they had never even met, let alone actually murdered. Jesus was saying “this generation” would suffer for the sin of many, many people who had existed long before them, all the way back to the dawn of mankind. This would even include the murder of Abel by Cain.

Now compare this to Jeremiah:

In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

Jeremiah 31:29-30 NIV

Jeremiah describes a time when people would die for their own sin, not the sins of their fathers. When would this happen? We find the answer in the very next verse. Jeremiah 31:31-34 tells us:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV

Matthew 23 and Jeremiah 31 are describing the same time period. Both Jesus and Jeremiah are describing the state of affairs that would characterize the New Covenant in the early days when it was established. So, why would Jesus characterize the conditions surrounding “this generation” and the very fulfillment of Jeremiah 31 using language that described a situation that was the complete opposite of that which Jeremiah describes? Was Jesus not aware of these passages in Jeremiah? Did He not think it helpful or necessary to use language that was at least consistent with a major prophecy He was about to fulfill?

Jeremiah 31:38-40 goes on to describe the same events as Zechariah 14:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.

Jeremiah 31:38-40 NIV

The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.

Zechariah 14:9-11 NIV

Any preterist who has done their research will tell you that Zechariah 14 was fulfilled in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple by the Romans (though they will likely be unable to explain how all this symbolic language was historically fulfilled at that time).

So, we have yet another clear confirmation that Jeremiah 31 and Zechariah 14 are describing the exact same events. Jeremiah 31 is not just about the New Covenant age in general. It’s describing the focal point of preterist eschatology – the 70 A.D. fall of Jerusalem. This is the exact same subject Jesus was describing in Matthew 23-24. This makes Jesus’s words in Matthew 23 even more suspicious concerning their stark contrast with Jeremiah 31.

Jeremiah’s description is also consistent with other Old Testament laws concerning God’s justice in capital punishment.

But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Exodus 21:24 NIV

Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.

Leviticus 24:19-20 NIV

Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:21 NIV

Elsewhere, Jesus goes so far as to correct the common abuse of these directives, encouraging people to be forgiving and repay evil with kindness.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:38-42 NIV

In other words, the punishment should perfectly fit the crime in order to align with God’s perfect justice. Yet, in Matthew 23, Jesus describes a judgment from God that violates all of these scriptural precedents that explain God’s standards of justice and the nature of the New Covenant era. Rather than judging His generation in a manner completely consistent with the sins of each individual, He makes them pay for the sin of every person that shared their murderous bent since mankind was placed on the earth.

How then can we harmonize Jesus’ words in Matthew 23 with those in Jeremiah 31 and all these other passages? The only way to make logical sense of these passages is if Jesus used the phrase “this generation” in a sense that somehow included all the guilty parties themselves. “This generation” would then have to include Cain and every other person guilty of murdering a prophet up to and including those alive at the time of Christ.

Christ could logically and consistently address this group of people while referring to them through His contemporaries via the pronoun “you” and demonstrative determiner “this” if they were to be seen as the current representatives of this long line of murderers. This is “corporate accountability”. Just as we are all as guilty as Adam and have ratified the decision of he and Eve to rebel, “this generation” could make logical sense as a reference to the collective group of all murderers of God’s prophets, regardless of the time period from which they belonged. They could all be part of “this generation” of whom the Pharisees were the current representatives/manifestations. Indeed, to completely square Matthew 23 with Jeremiah 31, there is no other option. “this generation” must include all of these people.

But if this is truly what Jesus meant here, it raises another burning question. Why would Jesus choose to use the seemingly scope-limiting and time-binding phrase “this generation” to refer to this broad group of people? This is highly unusual. One would hope there would be an exceedingly good reason for this. Preferably, that reason could be demonstrated from Scripture.

In my article “The Dual-Nature of Christ’s Generation“, we explore the answer to this question with some astounding scriptural discoveries.

The Dual-Nature of Christ’s “Generation”

Abstract

The audience Christ was addressing in several of His most significant prophetic statements was “this generation” or “this wicked generation”. The Greek word for generation in all these phrases is genea [G1074]. This seemingly simple expression has been the source of much controversy. Each eschatological framework has their own way of interpreting these words. This post presents evidence supporting a view that Christ’s use of genea was not limited solely to his contemporaries but had a broader, overarching application to the distinction between two categories of people: the wicked and the righteous. The case will be made that Christ was referring to both His contemporaries as the immediate manifestations of these categories but also to all people, past, present and future who would identify with one of these classifications.

Brief Summary of Existing Views

It’s beyond the scope of this article to present a thorough comparison and analysis of these alternate interpretations. However, a brief and perhaps over simplified survey of each existing view will be helpful in demonstrating that while I am familiar with these views, I still find them unsatisfactory. The following is an attempt to summarize the existing views.

The most natural way to understand these words of Jesus is that “this generation” meant the people who were alive at the time He spoke these words. This understanding has lead skeptics to argue that Jesus was a false prophet because some of the things He said were so grandiose and cataclysmic that they obviously never came to pass in a literal sense. Such is the case in the context of “this generation” in Matthew 24:34 where Jesus appears to be describing the destruction of planet Earth via some major astronomical and sociopolitical catastrophes.

On the other hand, those who don’t see Jesus as a false prophet but still think “this generation” referred to His contemporaries, conclude that He must have been speaking of some very significant historical events using highly symbolic and apocalyptic terms. The most likely candidate of relevance to His contemporaries is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Another nuance that has been proposed is that some things that Jesus mentioned would happen for that generation (wars, rumors of wars, destruction of Jerusalem, etc.) while others (Christ’s visible coming on the clouds of heaven, the end of the age, the gathering of the elect, etc.) would happen for a later generation.

Still another view, is that Jesus was describing events that particular contemporary people groups like the Jewish and Roman leaders responsible for the death of Christ would understand as a sign from heaven while other events would be perceived as such only by other people groups.

There are perhaps other obscure and fringe views that could be mentioned, however, the above are some of the most common mainstream understandings. Each of these views has strengths and weaknesses. However, I do not critique those views here. Many works from various authors have been written to support or debunk each of the above theories. Readers unfamiliar with these views are encouraged to consult those works for more thorough coverage.

The primary purpose of this article is to present the case for my own understanding of the verses which differs significantly from the above perspectives. That view understands Jesus to be speaking of one of two general categories of people, with an immediate though non-exclusive focus on His contemporaries. This article will attempt to thoroughly demonstrate that this interpretation, though not the most natural interpretation, is by far to be preferred as the interpretation for which Christ intended.

A Hint from Those Being Avenged

In two locations where Jesus referred to “this generation”, He said that they would be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets since the beginning of the world, including the blood of Abel (Luke 11:50-51; Matthew 23:34-39). Aside from the apparent injustice of this judgment (if there is some element to this statement that is not hyperbole), the reference to Abel and the “beginning of the world” immediately captures our attention. These statements call to mind the descendants of Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve who murdered his younger brother Abel (Genesis 4-5). As is demonstrated in many of my other articles, there is immense prophetic significance to the line of Cain. Those articles demonstrate that significance quite clearly. However, another peculiarity of Cain’s line that I have not addressed in detail to this date is the messianic significance seen in the mirroring of names across lines descending from Seth and Cain. The following table makes clear the parallel nature of the names in both families.

Parallel Names in Lines of Seth and Cain

Parallel Names in Lines of Seth and Cain

Notice the similarities between the names in these six pairings. The existence of such pairings demonstrates the scriptural importance of words that bear an audible or visual similarity to other words. Such words are fodder for puns and word-plays, of which, Scripture capitalizes on a great deal. Many of my other articles explain how word-plays can serve as interpretive clues in many other prophetic passages and allude to dual-meanings. We also find a similar phenomenon occurring several times much later in other prophetically significant portions of Scripture:

Therefore, we should not be surprised to see such pairings of names so early on in Scripture as we do in the descendants of Seth and Cain.  As in the later examples given in the bullet points above, these pairings likely suggest that there is something of prophetic importance in these passages and they impress upon us some sort of duality as the significance.

Observe also that in the line of Seth, only Seth [H8352] and possibly his son Enosh are missing a unique counterpart in Cain’s line.  In the case of Enosh, perhaps the omission of a counterpart is meant to imply that he should be grouped opposite the Enoch of Cain’s line with the Enoch of his own line. This would give us the impression of a dual-Enoch in Seth’s line. This seems especially likely given the messianic significance of Enoch and his unique relationship to God:

  • the similarities between the divine abductions of Enoch and Elijah the prophet (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:1,11)
  • the tight coupling of the careers of the prophets Elijah and Elisha
  • Elijah being explained as a prefigurement of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-12; Mark 9:11-13)
  • John the Baptist being tightly coupled to Christ who was Himself taken by divine intervention similar to both Enoch and Elijah (Acts 1:9-10).

This would also make good sense considering that Enosh [H583] means ‘man’. We can see him as a sort of ‘double-man’. In fact, this name is the basis for the term used of both Adam [H376– man] and Eve [H802– woman] (Genesis 2:23) who had a unique relationship in that they literally shared the same flesh and would become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). Compare also to Elisha’s request to inherit a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kings 2:9).

In fact, one gets the distinct impression that these lines of early man represent a deliberate dichotomy in their generations. They appear to have been intended to be representative of the two polarized classes of man (i.e. righteous vs. wicked). Seth’s birth resulted in men calling on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26) while his sequential counterpart – Cain – commits murder and would be avenged seven times over (Genesis 4:15). Enoch, seventh from Adam (Jude 1:14) “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22,24) while his sequential counterpart in Cain’s line – Lamech – committed a murder of his own to avenge himself seventy-seven times over (Genesis 4:24). Even Noah was found righteous in his generation [G1074] (Genesis 6:9; 7:1 LXX). There is a parallel and antithetical reflection between the lines of Seth and Cain.

This doubling aspect even appears to be recursive, repeating itself within the lineage of Seth as in the pair-within-a-pair example of Enoch covered above. Notice also that the firstborn son of Adam and Eve was Cain to whom Eve also referred as iysh [H376] (Genesis 4:1). Perhaps its no coincidence that these words applied to the first man, his bride, his firstborn, and a man parallel to his grandson Enoch all ultimately derive from anash [H605] meaning ‘incurable’ and ‘desperately wicked’.

In light of these observations, it would not be unrealistic to expect that the generation to which Jesus was referring was symbolic of those who identified with either the murderous line of Cain or the righteous line of Seth. In fact, it seems as though God planted this early dichotomy in the early generations of man precisely because He knew that it would be prophetically played upon by the Messiah.  This also seems to fit well with the sharply delineated categorizations of people Jesus made in other circumstances:

Ears to Hear

Another prophetically significant distinguishing characteristic between the wicked and righteous generations appears to be having ears and eyes that serve their intended purpose. Jesus repeatedly admonished people who had “ears to hear” to consider carefully what He was saying. Highlighting the prophetic importance of this expression, Christ uses it seven times in His letter to the seven churches (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29,3:6,13,22). The following are most of the other places where the expression “ears to hear” is used.  Included with each is a summary of the other elements in these passages that also hint at their special prophetic significance:

  • Matthew 11:15-16: the generation [G1074] that had rejected both Jesus and John the Baptist, the Elijah who was to come
  • Matthew 13:9,43: no mention of “generation” but a stark distinction is made between those who have and those who don’t (Matthew 13:11-12), wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43), good and bad fish (Matthew 13:47-50). He also mentions that speaking in parables was a fulfillment of prophecy for the purpose of hiding the secrets of the kingdom from those who didn’t have ears to hear. Also, the Sign of Jonah which mentions the evil generation [G1074] comes right between this section and that in the above bullet point (Matthew 12:39,41-42,45)
  • Mark 4:9,23; 8:18: Jesus draws attention to the numbers seven (Mark 8:5-6,8,20) and twelve (Mark 4:10; 8:19); Several events are mentioned that occurred around the Sign of Jonah (calming of storm; lamp on a stand; reference to Christ’s resurrection after three days and three nights; wicked generation asking for a sign)
  • Luke 8:8; 14:35: Description of those who hear and respond in 4 different ways; speaking in parables so those who couldn’t hear would not understand is highlighted as a significant fulfillment of messianic prophecy; Jesus draws attention to the numbers seven (Luke 8:2 cf. Matthew 12:45; Luke 11:26 of the Sign of Jonah and the resurrection of Christ fulfilling the Sign of Jonah in Mark 16:9) and twelve (Luke 8:1,42-43); Several events are mentioned that occurred in connection with the Sign of Jonah (healing on the Sabbath; calming of storm; Legion into Abyss; mother and brothers of Jesus are those who hear; lamp on a stand)
  • Acts 7:51: hearts and ears still uncircumcised just like their ancestors who killed the prophets; forty is connected to Moses in 3 different aspects and calls to mind the generation who wandered forty years in the desert.
  • Acts 28:27: quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 (also quoted in Matthew 13:15; Luke 8:10; Mark 4:12 from the bullet points above); salvation would be sent to Gentiles who would listen

These observations all coincide with the prophetic phrase “ears to hear” and give us ample reason to suspect that Jesus was perhaps using the term “generation” in these eschatological passages to refer to His contemporaries but only within a broader, overarching context of two groups of people distinguished by their ability to hear and comprehend.  Following this evidence, we find some startling discoveries that further support this idea of duality in the phrase “this generation”.

Matthew’s Generations of Christ

The first occurrence of the bothersome word for generation [G1074] in the New Testament is in Matthew’s record of the genealogy of Christ. There, the word occurs 4 times in a tight cluster (Matthew 1:17). An interesting aspect of this genealogy is that the author of the book describes it as being broken down into three groups of fourteen individuals each. The sections are rooted in Abraham, David and Jesus (Matthew 1:1,17). Interestingly, the name David, the centerpiece of the middle group of fourteen has a numeric value of fourteen in Hebrew using the standard Mispar hechrechi method of gemetria [1][2][3]

Calculation of David's Numerical Value

Calculation of David’s Numerical Value

The messianic title “Son of David” also occurs ten times in Matthew. This is significantly more often than any other book of the bible uses this title and suggests that the messianic role of David was a key focal point of Matthew.

There are many who believe these are the primary reasons that the author of this gospel broke this genealogy of Jesus down into groups of 14. It’s also interesting to note that David’s name is symmetrical in Hebrew. Notice also that 14 is double of seven which has eschatological significance in the book of Matthew as well as the rest of the bible. The numbers seven and eight are particularly relevant concerning the line of Cain as I’ve demonstrated elsewhere in many ways.

A further interesting observation about this genealogy is that there are specifically 42 generations given for Christ’s advent. As I’ve also shown on numerous occasions, the number 42 has special significance in scripture as well. In many of those instances, it’s associated with the concept of doubling. It’s also associated with the career of the 8th King Beast of Revelation 17 which I demonstrate to be a counterpart to the Queen of Seven in the judgment depicted in the Sign of Jonah. Forty-two months, being another way of representing 3.5 years or 1,260 days (using 360 day years) is exactly half of 7 years (eighty-four months). Forty-two also occurs in a bizarre location shortly after the laborious but finally successful separation of the prophetic duo Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:2,4,6,24). Just prior to this forty-two, Elisha asks to inherit a double-portion of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kings 2:9). Interestingly, in Luke’s gospel (which we discuss in the next section), just after the conjoined conceptions and births of John the Baptist (i.e. the Elijah to come) and Jesus (who would be taken to heaven like Elijah), there is an occurrence of two times forty-two (i.e. eighty-four). This was during the circumcision of Jesus on the 8th day in conjunction with a woman from the tribe of Asher (8th son of Jacob and linguistically related to the Hebrew word for the number ten [H6235]) is associated with the number seven and the number eighty-four (Luke 2:21,36-38) and a sacrificial pair (Luke 2:22-24).

In the Old Testament, this sacrificial pair was prescribed in the Levitical law as a means of purification of women after child birth (Leviticus 12:1-8). Interestingly, the period of the woman’s uncleanness lasted seven days for the birth of a male child and twice that for the birth of a female. The entire period for purification was 40 days for a male child and twice that (eighty) for the birth of a female. In connection with the concept of generation, we might recall, that from the perspective of Abraham, a generation was 40 years (Numbers 14:33-34; 32:13).

There is even a case to be made that Matthew’s forty-two generations of Christ are based on similar patterns of dividing history in other ancient texts (e.g. 2 Baruch 53-74 and Exodus Rabbah 15:26) [4][5][6]

A detailed section on my personal research into the number forty-two and its significance in Scripture can be found in my article “Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon”.  In that article, the duality implied by the number forty-two is demonstrated more thoroughly. We will have occasion to discuss some other interesting connections between Matthew’s genealogy and the number forty-two later in this article as well.

Luke’s Genealogy of Christ

As if what we’ve already observed isn’t suspicious enough, David also has an incredible connection to the number 42 in the genealogy of Christ that the gospel of Luke presents. First, if we count Jesus Himself, there are 77 fathers and sons in this genealogy. This number 77 alone hearkens back to Cain’s line in the 77-fold self-vengeance that Lamech achieved by murdering a man (Genesis 4:23-24). Contrast this with the 77-fold forgiveness Christ prescribes for similar offenses (Matthew 18:22).

However, there are 76 occurrences of the phrase “the son of” which allows the list to be broken down into four groups of 19 names each.  This list excludes Jesus who is really not biologically related to anyone in the genealogy, as Matthew is careful to point out. The table below shows the sequence of names as delineated by this phrase. We notice at once that David is forty-second in this list. King David’s name just happens to fall at the ordinal position that demonstrably has eschatological significance regarding symmetry, is three times the number of his own name, and just happens to be the number of generations in Matthew’s independent and vastly different genealogy centered around the same name!

Luke's Genealogy of Christ

Luke’s Genealogy of Christ

Motivation of this sort of organizing genealogies to highlight specific individuals is not unique to Matthew and Luke. There is an interesting case to be made that even the genealogy of Genesis 46:8-27; 29:31-30:24 was constructed around multiple sevens, with specific attention being given to Gad whose value using gematria is seven. [7]

As incredible as that sounds, there is far more evidence that supports the idea that, like Matthew’s genealogy, there is also a deliberate structure to Luke’s genealogy. Further, that structure demonstrates other intentional though veiled connections between the generations given by Matthew and Luke. We’ll first take a look at that structure and how it connects to Matthew’s genealogy. Then we’ll explore what that means regarding the term Jesus used for his “generation”.

Matthew and Levi

David’s name isn’t the only peculiarly positioned name in Luke’s genealogy. We’ve mentioned the prophetic connection between forty-two and seven already. Interestingly, the name at position number seven in Luke’s list is Joseph, repeated from the first name in the list, the father of Jesus. In fact, Joseph also occurs at position thirty-five as well – another multiple of seven.

Joseph’s name isn’t the only name to repeat in the list. Of all the names in Luke’s list, there are more related to the name Matthew [G3156] than any other. Six of the names in this list are related to Matthew and mean “Gift of God”. These are at positions 3,8,14,31,40,41. It’s tempting to also see the name at position 13 as a variant of Matthew. This would in fact bump the total to seven. However, while the name is somewhat similar to Matthew, they don’t bear a direct relationship etymologically. Though, compare it to the notes in the above table regarding Joktan, father of Shelah at position 62 in Luke’s genealogy.

Another name that is repeated in the list is Levi. It occurs twice and curiously, in each case, it’s paired with one of the variants of Matthew. Levi is also at position 4 which is right in the middle of the first seven men bounded by the name Joseph. We might recall at this point that the apostle Matthew was also called Levi (Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:13-15; Luke 5:27-29).

If we count Levi as a variant of Matthew, that brings the total number of direct allusions to Matthew in Luke’s genealogy of Christ to eight (seven if we don’t count Nathan which technically only means ‘given’, not “Gift of God”). Whichever number we choose to accept, the count has eschatological significance.  There is even a variant of Matthew at position eight in the list. Levi also occurs at position 4 and 32 which is 4 x 8.

After the section of seven men demarcated by Joseph, there is another section of seven men demarcated by the same variants of Matthew from positions 8 through 14. The last man in this list is paired with another variant of Matthew at position 13.

After these first two blocks of seven men, fourteen later at position 28 (7x4) we have Joshua, another pre-figurement of Christ whose name is actually the basis for Jesus [G2424] (cf. H3091). Interestingly, like the numeric value of David, the numeric value of the name Jesus as it occurs most often in the original Greek of the New Testament has obvious significance. This value is 888. [8]

Calculation of Numerical Value of Jesus

Calculation of Numerical Value of Jesus

Compare to the 666 mark/name of the 8th King-Beast from the Sea in Revelation 13 thought by many to be related to the numeric value of Nero’s name [9].

After Joshua there is another block of seven men, again, ending with Joseph at position 35. This is then followed by another block of seven men ending with David at position 42 – the end of the sixth group of seven. David himself is here preceded by a pair of names related to Matthew at positions 40 and 41.

In Luke’s genealogy, we are left with the impression that our attention is being deliberately drawn to the doubling, repetition, and cycles of seven as having some sort of messianic significance. A similar theme runs throughout Matthew’s genealogy as well. In fact, we find that Luke’s genealogy actually points us directly toward Matthew via the repetition of variants of his name that we just covered. That both Luke and Matthew choose to make this point in the “generations” [G1078] of Jesus is more than a little curious. It’s also interesting that Luke and Matthew are the only places in the New Testament where we even find a genealogy of Jesus.

Cainan and Jared

After David, there is no real distinct pattern to the names in Luke’s list. Neither Levi nor variants on Matthew have further repetitions in the list. Nor is there a similar focus on doubling.  That is, after the 42nd position in this division of the genealogy, the elements that characterized the first block of 42 names suspiciously stops.

It is however, as further evidence that the ordinal position of names in Luke’s genealogy carries interpretive significance, worthwhile to briefly discuss the positions of two other figures in this list. Cainan [G2536/H7018] occurs at position 63 (7×9) the end of the ninth cycle of sevens. If we begin counting the names in the list with Jesus to arrive at the count of 77 total names as mentioned earlier, Cainan is actually at position 62.  This is important as we’ll see in a moment.  Also, in the grouping of names depicted in the table above, Jared occurs at position 70 (7×10), the end of the tenth cycle. Both the names Cainan and Jared and the numbers 62 and 70 have some interesting eschatological connections.

Cainan is a reflection of Cain and Tubal-Cain. These were both pre-flood men in the same line of descent which was characterized by murder and associated with the numbers seven and eight on many different levels as I’ve discussed elsewhere. The biblical significance of the numbers seven and eight are rooted in the generations of Cain and Tubal-Cain. As mentioned earlier, the seventy-seven fathers and sons in Luke’s genealogy as well as Jesus’ own words regarding the vengeance of Abel on the “wicked generation” draw our attention straight back to these men in Genesis.

Beyond these observations, Cainan is the same name as the son of the pre-flood patriarch Enosh and the antithetical counterpart to Cain [H7014] of the wicked line from Adam. Enosh himself has both a positive and negative counterpart named Enoch. The positive Enoch was born to Jared when he was 62 years old according to the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch. Most Western bibles are based largely on the Masoretic Text manuscripts and therefore report the age of Jared as being 162 when Enoch was born. Though the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and even the Septuagint manuscripts disagree considerably on the milestone ages given for the pre-flood patriarchs, there is a compelling case to be made that at least the figures given for Jared in the Samaritan Pentateuch are the original and correct ages [10][11]. The negative/antithetic Enoch was the father of Irad who was himself the antithetical counterpart to Jared.

Like 42, the number 62 can also be shown to have prophetic significance. This number shows up in the following Scriptural contexts:

  • Obed-Edom, a musician and doorkeeper to Solomon’s temple who had 62 descendants and messianic allusions. Also has intimate connections to the number 8.
  • The mysterious Darius the Mede of Daniel 5 was 62 years old when Babylon fell
  • The 62 ‘sevens’ of Daniel’s Seventy-Weeks prophecy is wrapped in 8 “sevens” (seven weeks on one side and one week on the other)
  • Josiah, the righteous prophesied king anticipated throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles was eight years old when he became king and he reigned for 31 years (i.e. half of 62)

I discuss some of the significance surrounding these points in my article Revelation’s 8th Scarlet Beast-King and the Octavii Rufii in the section titled “Scarlet, Crimson and Redness”. We’ll have more to say about this connection with Enoch and Jared later on in the section “Levi/Matthew in the Context of Duality”.

Two further points to notice about Luke’s genealogy is its context and how it also has elements with eschatological allusions. We saw how the gospel of Luke opened with the dual conceptions and births of John the Baptist/Elijah and Jesus. This was followed by Luke’s genealogy of Jesus. Immediately following this, we have the forty day temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-12). Compare this to the 40 years of desert wandering of Israel and the implications this has on the definition of a “generation” from the passages in Numbers cited earlier.

Immediately after the temptation of Jesus, Luke gives the account of Jesus being rejected in his hometown (cf. Matthew 13:54; Mark 6:1-4; John 4:44). In this account Jesus makes reference to both Elijah and even more significantly, Elisha who is mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament (Luke 4:24-27). Jesus also quotes from Isaiah 61:1-2 here which alludes to the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19). Again, our attention is whisked back to the first hint at such a concept which is found in the eighth generation of Adam through Cain in Tubal-Cain’s brothers Jabal [H2989] and Jubal [H3016] – both names being related to the Hebrew for Jubilee [H3104]. This all occurs in a synagogue [G4864 cf. G4863] which is literally a place to assemble or gather.

To emphasize the deliberate focus on gathering here, immediately after this, we have an account of Jesus driving out an evil spirit from a man in a Capernaum synagogue that recognizes Him and speaks to Him (Luke 4:31-35; Mark 1:21-28). The next account where this happens in the same location is in the account of the Legion [G3003] of demons exercised (Luke 8:30; Mark 5:9,15). Incidentally, Legion [G3003] comes from the Latin words legō and lēgō which mean to “collect, gather“. lego [G3004] also exists in Greek and is related to the Latin meanings above (e.g. to gather) according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. It also means ‘to speak’. This is probably significant as this Legion actually  is the first demon that Jesus allowed to speak since the demons He drove out at the synagogue at Capernaum. See the section “Eight-Legged Kingdom Killers” in my article “The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King” for further connections of the Legion to the number seven, eight and particularly, the Sign of Jonah where a significant number of New Testament occurrences of generation [G1074] are found.

Consistent with the evidence directly within Luke’s genealogy, these observations demonstrate that even the context in which the genealogy itself is found alludes to established eschatological themes and events.

Matthew in the Old Testament

The above observations leave us with the distinct impression that our attention is being deliberately drawn to Matthew/Levi by Luke’s genealogy.  In turn, Matthew’s genealogy creates a strong connection between the Greek word for ‘generation’ as it’s used by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse and the prophetic number 42 which alludes to the concept of duality and the messianic figure David.  Luke repeats this allusion to both David and the number 42, and like Matthew, these allusions take place in an alternative genealogy (i.e. list of “generations”) of Christ.

At this point, we might wonder about the context in which other names like Matthew show up in Scripture. Not surprisingly, nearly all of them occur surrounded in indicators of their messianic significance. I don’t discuss these in detail but the key messianic indicators are mentioned below.

Hebrew Names Corresponding to Matthew (i.e. gift of God):

  • Nathan [H5416] – 42 times in Old Testament. Brother of Solomon born to Bathsheba; Also mentioned in Zechariah 12:12 along with David as one who would mourn when they looked on Him who they pierced; Just two verses earlier in Zechariah 12:10 is a verse quoted in John 19:34-37 and alluded to in Revelation 1:7-8 referring to Christ’s coming on the clouds.
  • Johnathan [H3129] – 42 times in Old Testament. Son of Saul and friend of David; Son of High Priest Abithar and was the last recorded descendant of Eli; Levite and father of Zechariah; one of David’s mighty warriors
  • Mattanai [H4982] – one of seven sons of Hashum, two Israelites by this name put away foreign wives
  • Mattathah [H4992] – one of seven sons of Hashum
  • Elnathan [H494] – 7 times in Old Testament
  • Mattaniah [H4983] – 1 Chronicles 25:16 – one of twelve sons; became Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17); 2nd of 14 sons of Heman; one of eight sons of Pahathmoab paired with Maaseiah; one of seven sons of Hashum paired with H4992
  • Nethaniah [H5418] – one of twelve sons, one of twelve priests,connected with Gedeliah of Jeremiah’s time
  • Mattan [H4977] – priest of Baal; connected with Gedeliah in Jeremiah’s time
  • Jonathan [H3083] – an uncle of David (the name David [H1732] is actually derived from the Hebrew for uncle [H1730]); a nephew of David who slew a giant of Gath similar to Goliath; Descendant of Gershom and priest to tribe of Dan; Alternate name for many people with name H3129 from above.
  • Mattithiah [H4993] – 8 times in Old Testament; worked with Obed-Edom
  • Nethaneel [H5417] – one of Obed-Edom’s eight sons
  • Nethinims [H5411/H5412] – name given to the children of Solomon’s servants after the exile
  • Mattanah [H4980] – Numbers 21:16-18 – first stop after Beer, the well of Moses after singing a song (cf. Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:22-30; 32:44; Revelation 15:3); occurred shortly after the account of fiery serpents and the bronze serpent (cf. actions of good king Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:4; also Benaiah  discussed in the later section titled “The Dual-Generation of Jesus”)

The “Gift of God” and Generations

Aside from the above names like Matthew that mean “Gift of God”, the actual phrase “Gift of God” only occurs in the Old Testament in two places. These are in Ecclesiastes chapters 3 and 5.

I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)

So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? (Ecclesiastes 3:22)

“Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him – for this is his lot. Moreover, when God give any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is the gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20)

The passages cited from chapter 3, are suspiciously placed to say the least. Immediately before them in verses 1-11 we find the famous passages that formed the basis for the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” released in 1965 by The Byrds. The significance of these passages and their relationship to the “gift of God” has some interesting parallels to the genealogy of Christ presented by Matthew.

First and foremost, these passages contain 14 pairs of the word “time” and ideas that are opposites to one another. Counting the introductory phrase “a time for” brings the total count of the word “time” to 29. This just happens to be the same number of times the phrase “under the sun” occurs in the book. This explicitly associates the “Son of David” with the messianic theme of the Sun and the passage of time. The book of Ecclesiastes even opens with a reference to toil “under the sun” and introduces us to the Teacher/Leader of the Assembly (ekklesiastes cf. ekklesia [G1577]) as the son of David (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3). Just as Jesus, “The Teacher” constantly referred to antithetical entities as allies and enemies, “The Teacher” of Ecclesiastes constantly refers to the righteous vs. the wicked, wise vs. fools, living vs. dead.

One overarching message of Ecclesiastes is that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10;3:15).  Everything comes in cycles.  Even in regards to judgment, God will call the past to account (Ecclesiastes 3:15).    The book also opens with these very themes of repetition in cycles.  Cycles of the sun, cycles of the wind from south to north, the water cycle, and particularly, cycles of generations (genea [G1074] in LXX) all occur in the opening verses of the book (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 cf. 6:10).

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning to its course (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11)

Another theme is the contrast between righteous and the wicked (e.g. Ecclesiastes 5:17; 7:15-18; 9:2). Also, there is a contrast between the wise and the foolish (Ecclesiastes 2:12-16).

Like the sun, wind recurs throughout Ecclesiastes a total of 14 times. Three of those times, its paired with the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11,17). “The Teacher” also tells us we do not know the path of the wind and Jesus seems to draw on this in reference to those born of water and the Spirit (Ecclesiastes 11:5 cf. John 3:3-5,8; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Acts 1:5; Matthew 11:14). We are also told that no one has power over the wind which Jesus also defies in His calmings of the Sea of Galilee  (Ecclesiastes 8:8 cf. Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25). The sea calmings of Jesus are parallel to Jonah’s calming of the storm and are arguably to be seen as extensions to the Sign of Jonah where Jesus makes one of the references to the vengeance for Abel that opened this post. For more information on the extensions to the Sign of Jonah, see the section titled “Sea Calmings” in my article “The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King”. Even Matthew/Levi, the tax collector and sinner who embraced the “Gift of God”, is connected to the Sign of Jonah via the unique phrase “mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7). In fact, the calling of Levi/Matthew occurred right after a calming of the sea and the casting out of demons near this sea (Matthew 9:9-11; Mark 2:14-16; Luke 5:27-30 cf. Matthew 8:23-34; Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37). Mark’s gospel even places his calling just prior to the clarification Jesus gave regarding the purpose of the Sabbath which leads directly into the Sign of Jonah (Mark 2:23-28 cf. Matthew 12:1-14).

Another subject of the book of Ecclesiastes is straightening twisted and crooked things (Ecclesiastes 1:15; 7:13). Compare this to the task of Elijah/John the Baptist (Isaiah 40:3; 45:13; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:3; 11:10; 21:32; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4; 7:27; John 1:23). Jesus said the Pharisees and experts in the Law rejected their lot in life by not being baptized by John, alluding to their rejection of the “Gift of God” (Luke 7:29-30; Matthew 11:14 cf. Ecclesiastes 5:19; 9:7-10). These very passages in Luke 7 and Matthew 11 also allude to Ecclesiastes in these additional ways:

In connection with messianic justice, judgment is mentioned on the righteous and the wicked and an acknowledgment that God will call the past to account (Ecclesiastes 3:15-17). Chapter 3 opens and closes with a description of this same “Gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26; 3:22). And right before this last bookend for the chapter, the opening chapters of Genesis are brought to mind regarding the parallels between the lives of men and the lives of animals (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 cf. Genesis 1:30; 2:7; 6:17; 7:15,22; 9:5).

In the passages mentioning the “Gift of God” in Ecclesiastes 5, right after them comes a recollection of the opening to chapter 3 and the futile gathering of the wicked whose fruits are left to the righteous to enjoy (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 cf. 2:26). Careful structuring of these passages is evident and Christ likewise skillfully orchestrates His allusions to these passages.

Even in the New Testament, this phrase “Gift of God” is rare. Of the few occurrences, a couple in particular are worth mentioning with regard to the words of Christ. Jesus mentions the “Gift of God” in John 4:10 to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well (John 4:10-42) near Sychar [G4965/H7941]. In addition to the “Gift of God” reference here, Jesus draws our attention to the previously mentioned passages from Ecclesiastes in this context. He speaks of the ripe harvest for which His disciples hadn’t worked (John 4:37-38 cf. Ecclesiastes 2:18-19,21,26; 6:2). In Ecclesiastes, the allusion to profits enjoyed by those who didn’t toil for them immediately precedes the 14 antithetical pairs and the “Gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).

Peter refers to the “Gift of God” in Acts 8:20 in reference to Simon the Sorcerer who wanted to purchase his power to give people the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:9-25). This again, was in Samaria in territory that was obtained from Shechem the Hivite by Jacob. The typology surrounding Shechem is impressive. Due to limited space, a comprehensive study cannot be presented here. However, a few interesting observations may suffice to make the point that even these two mentions of “Gift of God” in the context of Samaria are prophetically significant.

Sychar [G4965/H7941] means drunken. Interestingly, Samaria [H8111,H8115,H8118,H8114] means dregs/lees also referring to the sediment that precipitates out of aging wine. Compare also to the names Shimrith [H8116] and Shimath [H8088] which are also related to dregs and were dual servants who killed King Joash who had himself repaired the temple (2 Kings 12:21). Compare further to the concepts of Jonah and Javan which are both related to the word for wine (See my article The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King).

Jacob bought this land from the sons of Hamor (Genesis 33:18-19) and apparently gave it to Joseph (Genesis 48:21-22 where, in the original Hebrew, “ridge of land” is identical in written form to “Shechem”). It’s immediately after Jacob purchases this land that the account of Simeon and Levi is found where they are avenging the violation of Dinah [H1783– judgment] by Shechem. Immediately prior to this, Jacob was reunited with his twin brother Esau/Edom. Joseph ended up being buried in Shechem (Joshua 24:32 cf. Genesis 50:22-26). The death of Eleazer the son of Aaron is mentioned immediately after this. The death of Joshua is mentioned immediately before it. Shechem was the place Joshua renewed Israel’s covenant with God and setup a stone under an oak as a witness against them (Joshua 24). Shechem is also where Joseph was sold by his brothers (Genesis 37). In Genesis 12:6, this was the first place God spoke to Abram after his initial call out of Haran.

Some additional comments regarding the eschatological significance of Dinah may be helpful as well.  In Revelation 7:7, Levi is the eighth tribe listed in the 144,000, Asher who was the eighth son of Jacob is fourth in the list – half of eight. Also, the tribe of Dan is missing from the list as many commentators have noticed. This is significant because both Dinah [H1783] and Dan [H1835] mean ‘judge’.  Dinah, though not a son, was also the seventh child born to Jacob by Leah (Genesis 30:20-21).  Dan [H1835] is also a homograph in the original Hebrew for ‘this’ [H1836] (which may have some significance concerning the judgment language Jesus used against “this” generation).

After the birth of Dinah, Joseph was born to Rachel, the 12th child (counting Dinah) of Jacob. He was the firstborn of the only two sons of Rachel (cf. Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18). With the birth of Benjamin, Jacob had 12 natural sons and 6 (i.e. 1/2) of those were Leah’s natural sons. In the account of the sexual violation of Dinah, it was Simeon and Levi who avenged her three days after the culprits of Shechem had been circumcised (Genesis 34:25-26). This whole account of Dinah begins right after the account of Jacob’s purchase of the land that is referenced in connection with the “Gift of God” and the encounter of Jesus with the woman at Jacob’s well (Genesis 33:18-20 cf. John 4:6,12). These actions of Levi and Simeon were cursed by Jacob in Genesis 49:5-7. The fulfillment of this curse on Levi was brought about in Joshua 21:41; Numbers 35:6 where Shechem was one of the six cities of refuge given to the Levites, leaving them with forty-two regular towns.

Again, the methodical structuring of these accounts is very evident once it’s pointed out and it appears to be done to highlight the messianic significance of events that took place in connection with Shechem.

Levi/Matthew in the Context of Duality

We observed earlier the pair of pairs of Levi and names related to Matthew in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus. However, Levi/Matthew has some other peculiar involvement with duplicates. We’ve mentioned that Matthew is also connected to the Sign of Jonah via the rare phrase “mercy, not sacrifice”. As mentioned in my article on the Queen of Seven and the 8th king of Revelation 17, the Sign of Jonah is laden with allusions to the numbers seven and eight. While both the 8th king and Queen of Seven are executors of what appear to be judgments on the generation of Jesus, I argue that these judgments can’t be contemporary. The Queen of Seven is actually shown to be the judge of the 8th king. Therefore, the Sign of Jonah encompasses two distinct judgment events, even though only one is mentioned.

Similar to the Sign of Jonah, the “wicked generation” occurs between 7 and 8 times in the book of Matthew (7 if we exclude Matthew 24:34 which is ambiguous). Similarly, in the four lists of the twelve apostles given in the New Testament, oddly, Matthew only occurs in positions 7 (Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16) and 8 (Matthew 10:3; Acts 1:13). Perhaps even more interesting is that Matthew is always mentioned in these lists paired with either Thomas/Didymus and James the son of Alpheus [G256]. The significance of these observations isn’t immediately obvious, however, both names bolster the idea that Levi/Matthew carries a deliberate allusion to duality in some unexpected but undeniable ways.

Regarding Thomas [G2381] and Didymus [G1324], both names mean ‘twin’. In fact, Didymus is also likely a word-play on certain inflections of the Greek word for give [G1325], an action in which the name Matthew is rooted.  It’s also instructive to note that the call of Levi/Matthew by Jesus at the opening of His public ministry was preceded by a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:2-10 cf. Matthew 4:18-19; Mark 1:16-17) that also has a significant parallel at the end of Christ’s earthly ministry (John 21:1-14). In the final miraculous catch recorded by John, the specific number of fish is mentioned as being 153 in total. This particular number has struck many commentators as odd and there have been several attempts at understanding what it may have symbolized. Some have noticed that the gematrial value of the Hebrew for “children of God” is 153 and occurs only seven times in scripture[13][14][15]. Others have argued that the gemetrial values of En-Gedi and En-Eglaim form the basis of this number (Ezekiel 47:10 cf. Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17)[16][17][18][19]. My own contribution to these theories is the observation that this number 153 just happens to be the number of years by which Jared, (the seventieth member in Luke’s genealogy covered earlier), missed the 1,000 years of dominion that all the other pre-flood patriarchs also failed to achieve (Genesis 5:20 Samaritan Pentateuch; see Dillman and Segal above concerning the reliability of the Samaritan Pentateuch on the ages of Jared)[12]. This is paralleled in the 1,000 year reign of Christ of Revelation 20 as I demonstrate in my article “The Second Death and the 1,000 Years of Revelation (Part 1) ”. Compare also to the double thousand of Ecclesiastes 6:6 (the messianic significance of chapter 6 in Ecclesiastes was covered earlier). Also, the contrast of man and woman of Ecclesiastes 7:27-29. A key point to note here in connection to the duality surrounding Matthew/Levi is that even in this miraculous catch, just as in all the lists of the names of the apostles, a disciple named Nathanael [G3482] “Gift of God” is paired with Thomas/Didymus (the twin and gift) even though Matthew/Levi is not mentioned. Significantly, there are seven total disciples in the account.

We see a similar association of a name involving a twin associated with the number forty-two in the book of Judges. There, the Ephraimites (i.e. twin-lands) engage in double-talk for salvation in connection with the forty-two thousand who were slain after the initial judgment of Jephthah, the eighth judge of Israel. Jephthah was raised up to rid the land of worship being done to the gods of Sidon (Judges 10:5) whom the tribe of Asher, the eighth son of Jacob had failed to drive out of the promised land (Judges 1:31-32). In the times of the kings, these same gods were being worshiped and promoted by Jezebel, the Sidonian queen of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). After the demises of Jezebel, her husband Ahab, his seventy sons and Ahaziah, we then see that the killing of forty-two of Ahaziah’s own relatives is recorded (2 Kings 10:13-14). These executions were in fulfillment of prophecies by the dual prophets Elijah (1 Kings 21:20-24,29) and Elisha (2 Kings 9:6-10) against the house of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kings 10:10). Jehu, a king chosen by God and anointed by Elisha (2 Kings 9:6) is the messianic character who carried these executions out.  It cannot be mere coincidence that Thomas/Didymus means ‘twin’, sounds like inflections of Greek for gift and often adjoins Matthew/Levi who is so closely associated with the “Gift of God” and the numbers 7, 8 and 42.

Further, like his other “partner” James the son of Alpheus, the father of Matthew was also named Alpheus (Mark 2:14 cf. Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). James and Matthew do not appear to have been brothers so their fathers are two different men.  Yet, they are the only two men named Alpheus in the entire New Testament. That two apparently unrelated men, each having a father with such a name are paired with one another under already suspicious circumstances is an astonishing observation that must carry some major interpretive significance. Interestingly, the Hebrew words from which the Greek name Alpheus derives [H2501,H2500,H2498] mean ‘exchange’, ‘renew’ or ‘pass away’.  These are words that characterize the transition to the Messianic Age.

Use of ‘genea’ by Jesus

We’ve taken several tedious though informative detours in our discussion of the prophetic significance of the term ‘genea’ as used by Jesus and the gospel writers. At this point, it’s probably helpful to take stock of all the places Jesus uses the term genea in a condensed and categorized list. Notice that they all occur in the context of three major subjects which have all come up in other connections discussed earlier:

Sign of Jonah

  • accountable for blood of all the prophets from foundation of the world, also AbelLuke 11:29-32,50-51
  • Matthew 12:39-45; 16:4; Mark 8:12,38
  • faithless generation, how long shall I be with you; John the Baptist the Elijah to come; Jesus predicts his death and resurrection in terms similar to sign of Jonah; first vs. last; for us vs. against us; salt; transfiguration – Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19

Judgment on Jerusalem

  • all righteous blood shed on the earth from Abel onward; descendants of those who murdered the prophets; follows 7/8 woes; pursue from town to town (cf. 42 Levitical cities opposite the 6 cities of refuge for avenging the death of their father Satan) – Matthew 23:36
  • Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30
  • Luke 17:25
  • final judgment – Luke 21:32

John the Baptist

  • dishonest steward, wisdom praised, children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light; God vs. mammon; Jesus addresses the Pharisees who loved money – Luke 16:8
  • Tax Collectors vs. Pharisees and experts in the Law; eating drinking, wisdom proved right by her children; John the Baptist the Elijah to come, a prophet to prepare the way for God, both alternatives/opposites rejected’ judgment on Bethsaida. Chorazin, Capernaum; ears to hearMatthew 11:16-19; Luke 7:29-35

Though not spoken by Jesus, even the narrative of Luke mentions that all generations (i.e. genea) would call Mary blessed (Luke 1:48). As discussed earlier, this is followed by an allusion to the significant numbers 7, 8 and a double of 42 via prophetess Anna at Christ’s presentation at the temple (Luke 2:21,36-38).

The Dual-Generation of Jesus

We’ve seen that there is an obvious structure to both Matthew and Luke’s “genea-logy”. Luke’s genealogy obviously draws our attention to the name Matthew and some peculiar eschatological connections of his own. These genealogies are saturated with repetitions and cycles. They are in fact the very generation [G1078genesis] of Jesus (Matthew 1:1). The word “genesis” also derives from ganea [G1074]. We’ve seen that numbers 7, 8, 42, 62 are all significant in these genealogies. We’ve also seen that gematria even plays a significant role in the organization of these genealogies. It’s also been observed that the “Gift of God”/Matthew draws our attention to the repeating cycles of generations lusting after earthly pleasures described in Ecclesiastes and the meaninglessness of life apart from God’s purposes. Significant focus on duality in connection with the above numbers is also readily apparent. All these observations may now lend some credibility to some other unlikely numbers that occur in connection with the concept of a generation:

  • genea occurs 42 times in the entire New Testament (Textus Receptus)
  • genea also occurs 180 times in LXX (half of 360. Note that the 360-day year is the basis for the biblical relationship between 42 and 7 – 42 months being 1,260 days which is half of seven 360-day years according comparisons of Luke 4:25; James 5:17; Revelation 11:2-3; 12:6; 13:5 )
  • gematrial value of genea [G1074] is 64 (8 multiplied two times over or two multiplied six times

Calculation of Numerical Value of genea

Calculation of Numerical Value of genea

  • in connection with the gematrial value of genea, Levi [H3878] occurs 64 times in the Old Testament.
  • genos [G1085] occurs 70 times in LXX
  • ginomai [G1096] – fulfilled is the root word for both G1085 and G1074

Also, similar to genea and two of the names related to Matthew [H5416 & H3129] noted earlier, two other names with messianic significance occur forty-two times in the Old Testament:

  • Jesse [H3448] – father of David, youngest of his eight sons
  • Benaiah [H1141] (from section above titled “Matthew in the Old Testament“)
    • like Zadok and Nathan [H5416] (related to Matthew), a man by this name remained faithful to David during Adonijah’s attempt for the throne.  He was also present at Solomon’s anointing. He killed Adonijah for having Bathsheba request Abishag the Shunamite be given to him in marriage. This Benaiah eventually killed and replaced Joab as commander of Solomon’s army. He was described as being as famous as of David’s top three mighty men, had higher honor out of David’s prestigious “Thirty”, and was put in charge of David’s personal bodyguards.
    • another man named Benaiah was twelfth in the list of David’s mighty men
    • a Benaiah was seventh son of Nebo [H5015– prophet]
    • another Benaiah was a brother of a Mattithiah
    • Pahathmoab had eight sons, one of whom was named Benaiah and was paired with Maaseiah [H4641– מעשיה – work of Jehovah. Also related to Esau; compare to H4899messiah – משיח] just as Mattaniah was
    • Parosh had seven sons the last of whom was named Benaiah
    • a man named Benaiah was listed eighth out of the ten musicians appointed by David to play lyres according to the alamoth [H5961hidden, virgin, young woman] accompanied by Obed-Edom and Mattithiah who played harps according to the sheminith [H8067eight] (1 Chronicles 15:19-21; 16:5)
    • two leaders named Benaiah of the 3rd and 11th divisions (difference of eight) of 24,000 in the 288,000 men of the military to be on duty monthly throughout the year.  Note that 144,000 is half of 288,000 (1 Chronicles 27 cf. Revelation 7:4; 14:1,3).  The 144,000 of Revelation are said to have come out of the great tribulation which was to last for 42-months  (Revelation 7:14; Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1,7,11-12; Revelation 11:2-3; 12:6,14; 13:5).  After this period of tribulation and defeat of the beast, this army of 144,000 sang the Song of Moses (Revelation 14:3; 15:2-3 cf. the typological 288 temple musicians of 1 Chronicles 25:7)
    • Benaiah was tenth of the twelve men king Hezekiah appointed to bring the tithes into the storerooms of the temple which he had restored (2 Chronicles 31:13). Tithe also just happens to mean one-tenth suggesting that the positioning of this Benaiah was more than coincidental in this context. This all happens just before the Assyrian king Sennacherib threatens Jeruselam at the exact same, very specific location Isaiah was to give the king the Sign of Immanuel and cited by Matthew as a prediction of the virgin birth of Christ (2 Chronicles 32:9-19; 2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 7:3; 36:2 cf. Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23). This took place at the “aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field”, a place that has obvious allusions to purification and spiritual cleansing written all over it.  Compare also to the musical term alamoth from the above bullet point.

Summary

The wicked generation would be judged for the murder or all the prophets and righteous starting with Abel. This reference to Abel and all the slain prophets from the foundation of the world suggests that He was ultimately speaking of the antithetical generations brought forth by Cain and Seth. Other contexts suggest that a proclivity for or against murder is the distinguishing trait of the “generation” of which Jesus was speaking. The first occurrence of generation in the New Testament is in Matthew and is in the context of the “generations” of Jesus (i.e. his genealogy). There are forty-two of these generations, suggesting that there is eschatological significance to these generations. Particularly, that they represent only half of the messianic picture. Likewise, Luke’s generations of Jesus connect David with the number 42 by placing him at the 42nd position based on the phrase “the son of”. Like the numbers 42 and 14 (the numeric equivalent of David) which formed the basis for how Matthew and Luke arranged the genealogies of Jesus, other symbolic uses of these and other numbers became apparent using gematria and word counts. Luke’s genealogy also exhibits signs of repetition and doubling, especially regarding Matthew/Levi. Jesus uses the term “generation” in only a handful of contexts – the judgment on Jerusalem, the Final Judgment, John the Baptist, the Sign of Jonah. All these subjects overlap in some regard and have their own indicators suggestive of duality.

Just like Abel and all the prophets, John the Baptist was killed by the “wicked generation” (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9), Jesus saw His own death as being parallel to that of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12; Mark 9:13). In the Sign of Jonah, the “wicked generation” would be judged by the Queen of Seven for just such murders, epitomized in the murder of Christ. This is in contrast to the Harlot of Revelation 17 which is judged by an Eighth king. Even significant events that surround John the Baptist occur in the context of the Sign of Jonah as Jesus calms the sea in much the same way as Jonah did. Matthew/Levi himself is connected to the Sign of Jonah via the phrase “mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). As with the Sign of Jonah, Matthew and Levi are intimately connected with the numbers seven and eight and cycles of repetition, particularly those described in the book of Ecclesiastes in relation to the “Gift of God”. Just as the Sign of Jonah encompasses two judgments, Matthew and Levi have many unusual connections with duality and the generations of Jesus. To top it all off, the actual words for “generation” have numeric connections to halving and doubling right from the pages of Scripture. In fact, ginomai [G1096], from which the word for ‘generation’ [G1074] derives, occurs exactly seven times in both Matthew 24 and the parallel in Mark 13. This also suggests that these words were being used in an unusual typological manner where a secondary reference was intended.

By all indicators, the term “generation” as used by Jesus was not merely a reference to his own contemporaries. It had eschatological implications extending backward to the very beginning and forward to the very end of time. In passages like Matthew 24 then, when Jesus said “this generation” would not pass away until all these things are fulfilled, He was speaking simultaneously from two perspectives. From one perspective, there would still be people contemporary to Him alive when the things He spoke of took place. These were things pertaining to 70 AD. However, from another perspective, He was saying that in a more general sense, people of the same stock as murderous Cain would exist until Christ came with His perfected Queen of Seven to fully and finally remove their recurring influence (i.e. the eighth king) from the physical universe. Christ was using the word genea typologically to simultaneously refer to an immediate subset of mankind as well as mankind in general.


1) Zacharias, H. Daniel (2016) “Matthew’s Presentation of the Son of David” p. 50
2) Davies, W.D.; Allison, D.C. (2004) “Matthew 1-7: Volume 1 (International Critical Commentary)” Volume 1 p. 165
3) Nolland, John (2005) “The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Greek Testament Commentary)” pp. 86-87
4) Nolan, Brian M. (1979) “Royal Son of God: The Christology of Matthew 1-2 in the Setting of the Gospel”, p. 60
5) Novakovic, Lidija (2003) “Messiah, the Healer of the Sick: A Study of Jesus as the Son of David in the Gospel of Matthew”, pp. 40-41
6) Waetjen, Herman C. (1976) “Genealogy as the Key to the Gospel According to Matthew” Journal of Biblical Literature Issue 2 pp. 210-215
7) Sasson, Jack M. (1978) “A Genealogical ‘Convention’ in Biblical Chronography”, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Volume 90 Issue 2 p. 171-185
8) Chilton, David (1987) “The Days of Vengeance” p. 346
9) Ibid. pp. 350-351
10) Dillman, August (1897) “Genesis Critically and Exegetically Expounded.” tr. by WM. B. Stevenson, B.D. Edinburgh pp. 218
11) Segal, Dr. Michael (2007) “The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology.” pp. 127
12) Wenham, Gordon J. (2015) “Rethinking Genesis 1-11: Gateway to the Bible” p. 58
13) Zacharias, H. Daniel (2016) “Matthew’s Presentation of the Son of David” pp. 48-49
14) Romeo, Joseph A. (1978) “Gematria and John 21:11, the Children of God, Journal of Biblical Literature” Volume 97 pp. 263-264
15) Bullinger, E.W. (1967) “Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance” p. 275-276
16) Grigsby, Bruce (1984) “Gematria and John 21:11 – Another Look at Ezekiel 47:10”, Expository Times Volume 95 pp. 177-178
17) Emerton, John A. (1960) “Gematria in John 21:11” The Journal of Theological Studies Volume 11 pp. 335-336
18) Ackroyd, Peter R. (1959) “The 153 Fishes in John XXI. 11-A Further Note” The Journal of Theological Studies Volume 10 p. 94
19) Klein, R.W. (1974) “Archaic Chronologies and the Textual History of the OT” Harvard Theological Review 67 pp. 255-263

The Great Tribulation of Full Preterism: Condemned by the Queen of ‘Seven’ and an ‘Eighth’ King

Abstract

For Full Preterists in general, the major apocalyptic events surrounding “The Great Tribulation” primarily describe the judgement on Jerusalem in 70 AD and have no substantial literal fulfillment beyond that point in time.  In this post, we’ll examine the context of the biblical symbolism surrounding these eschatological events to see how well these claims hold up.

Background

The judgement mentioned in Matthew 12 and Luke 11 and alluded to in Revelation 17 was at least initially fulfilled in the judgement on Jerusalem of 70 AD. These events coincide with the Great Tribulation of Revelation 7:14 and Matthew 24:21,29.

The Greek word for “tribulation” in Revelation 7:14 is thlipsis [G2347]. This same Greek word also occurs in a similar context in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:21,29; Mark 13:19,24 where it obviously has an immediate reference to the judgement on Jerusalem when it was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans (cf. Luke 21:20-24). The book of Daniel also clearly references a great distress [H6869] in conjunction with desolations, abominations, and breaking of the power of Israel (Daniel 8:13; 9:26-27; 12:1,11) in association with the rise of Michael the Archangel (cf. Daniel 10:3; Jude 9; Revelation 20:1-3) concerning the “Great Tribulation” and final judgement.

Many resources exist from both Full and Partial Preterists that expound on the many ways in which these prophecies were fulfilled, at least initially in 70 A.D. However, a few figures connected with this Great Tribulation that have barely received any attention in either camp are found in Revelation 17, Matthew 12 and Luke 11. These are the Queen of the South and the 8th King/Beast who supports the seven heads and on whom the Harlot of Babylon sits. The symbolism involved in these references pose some interesting difficulties for the Full Preterist interpretation of the Great Tribulation and the final judgement.

An Eighth King

In Revelation 17, we find that one of the executors of the judgement on the generation of Jesus is to be an eighth king (Revelation 17:11). This king is the scarlet Sea Beast himself who supports the seven heads (Revelation 17:8,11). In several other contexts, I demonstrate the biblical significance and meaning behind the number eight. In fact, its very definition in Hebrew is tightly coupled to the number seven. Under the entry for eight [H8083] in Strong’s Concordance, “from H8082 through the idea of plumpness (as if a surplus above the ‘perfect’ seven)”. Compare also to other words involving eight H8066, H8067, H8084, H8082, words involving seven H7620, H7637, H7650, H7651, H7655, H7657, H7658, H7659 and their corresponding homographs H7646, H7647, H7648, H7649, H7656. All express the idea of being full and satisfied.

There is a lot to be said regarding the biblical significance of the number eight and I’ve expounded on the biblical sources demonstrating that significance in several other articles. I’ll not repeat all of those observations here. For the discerning reader, a thorough discussion of the biblical significance of the number 8, please see my articles An Introduction to the Biblical Significance of the Number 8, Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon, Revelation’s 8th Scarlet Beast-King and the Octavii Rufii, A Response to Don K. Preston: The Timing of the Coming of the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel. Here, we will simply assume what those other sources bear out. That is, that eight is a biblical symbol of not only rebirth, but also of continual rebirth. We will examine several previously unmentioned ways the Queen of the South and the Eighth King of Revelation specifically capitalize on this symbolism.

The seven heads of the Sea Beast of Revelation are understood by many, myself included, to represent a sequence of first century Roman emperors encompassing Nero. But unlike the Roman Emperors, this eighth king/beast belonging to these seven heads seems inhuman as he existed in some sense before and after John’s writing of Revelation but not during it (Revelation 17:8,11-12). This is in parallel contrast to the One who never ceases to exist – the one who was, who is, and who is to come (Revelation 1:4,8; 4:8; 16:5). That is, the great “I am” (Exodus 3:14). The One resurrected on the day after the Sabbath (i.e. the eighth day [1]). Compare also to the two days of sabbath rest in the Feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus 23:35-36,39). Of particular messianic significance, this was Sunday (aka ‘the Sun’s day’ cf. Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19). This eighth king seems to be a parody of Christ.

This eighth king likely symbolizes that there will be a continual rebirth of the earthly, anti-Christian oppression exemplified by Rome [2]. Also like Christ, this eighth king both transcends time and uses earthly rulers to accomplish his will. He’s not a singular, physical king. In fact, for him to gain influence in the physical world, the kings of the earth have to lend him their authority (Revelation 17:13,17) prompted by the deception of the dragon (Revelation 13:2,14-15). We’ve seen him manifest himself before in other kings of the earth, most prominently in Antiochus Epiphanes, the eighth King and Little Horn of Daniel 7. Also in the Octavii Rufii (i.e. Red Eights) culminating in Augustus Caesar. There’s even compelling evidence that we’ve seen him manifest himself way back in Genesis shortly after the description of The Fall in the “kings” of the earth (cf. Genesis 4:8-24) in the eight generations from Adam through Cain.

What we’ll continue to see in our analysis here is that what we have in Revelation in this eighth king is a prediction that unjust, earthly rulers will continue to repeatedly rise beyond the Roman empire, just as they had throughout prior history. More significantly as pertaining to the claims of Full Preterism, that trend will eventually stop. The physical earth/land will not be subject to the sins of unjust earthly rulers forever. And the murdering (physical and spiritual) of God’s prophets will end (Genesis 4:8,23-24; 9:6 contrast Isaiah 2:4; Ezekiel 39:9-10; Matthew 5:21-22; Luke 12:58-59).

Further evidence of this can be found in another description of the judgement by the Queen of the South. It is her, in conjunction with her husband, who takes these evil earthly rulers out of existence and begins to reign herself.

The Queen of the South

The judgement on the generation of Christ (The Great Tribulation) of Matthew 24:21,29 is also predicted by Jesus in Matthew 12:36-37,41-42; Luke 11:30-32,47-51. Like the Eighth king of Revelation 17, an executor of this judgement is described. She is the Queen of the South (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31). This is a reference to the Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon to test his wisdom (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12). We also learn from these passages that the men of Nineveh of Jonah’s day will be executing this judgement with this queen.

Are we to conclude that the mentions of this gentile queen and the men of Nineveh were merely to indicate that non-Jewish folks were going to play a part in the 70 AD judgement on Jerusalem or that there would be pagans who would repent and enter the kingdom of Christ? While those might be a couple of aspects of their mention, is that all that we are meant to infer? This question is particularly relevant in light of the fact that there are no specific events mentioned within the context of these verses that uniquely apply to 70 AD.

In answer to this question, one key connection between this queen and the eighth king of Revelation may be in noticing that Sheba [H7614] is a variant of the Hebrew word for seven [H7651]. Surely, this must have some weighty symbolic significance given the eschatological contexts of these verses and the prophetic symbolism embodied in the numbers seven and eight.

As we will see many times over, the subject matter of these verses is saturated in other allusions to the numbers seven and eight. These repeated references emphasize that our focus is being intentionally drawn to these numbers. This strengthens their connection to the eighth King/Beast of Revelation 17. It also draws our attention to the prophetic significance of some other scriptural events as well. We’ll now explore some of those connections.

The Signs Surrounding Jonah

Though there are parallel passages in the other gospels which contain details relating to the Sign of Jonah, Matthew 12 contains the most complete account in a single unit. This account, as well as Luke 11, contains the reference to the Queen of Seven. The following table delineates the various elements of the context surrounding the Queen of Seven.

*Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:36-41; 6:47-52; John 6:16-21; Luke 8:22-25); Legion of demons into in the Abyss (Luke 8:26-39 also Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20)

**Six woes to scribes and Pharisees Luke 11:37-54; Matthew 23:5 – 7 woes (8 if we count the additional one from some manuscripts echoing Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47)

***occurs in the context of Tyre and Sidon

This table will be a helpful reference for the reader as many of its topics recur throughout the upcoming sections. It will be demonstrated that the vast majority of elements in this discourse of Jesus draw our attention to some very significant prophetic portions of Scripture. The prophetic nature of these elements is evidenced by their repeated allusions to one or more of the following:

  • the numbers seven, eight, twelve, forty-two and 666

  • the polar nature of the cardinal directions of North vs. South

  • duality, doubling, symmetry, finality, repetition, recursion

  • echoes of messianic motifs

  • other improbable correlations demonstrating deliberate though veiled secondary references

An Eight-fold Re-possession

Aside from the Queen of Sheba, another interesting occurrence of seven in the Sign of Jonah is after Jesus gives the analogy of the healing of the man from demon-possession. He says that after a demon is cast out of a person, the same demon leads ‘seven’ more (eight in total) to return (Matthew 12:45; Luke 11:26). That this combination of seven and eight occurs in the context of the Queen of Seven makes it more than a little coincidental.

The Sabbath, Eight and the Beginning of New Cycles of Seven

A slightly less obvious reference to seven in Matthew 12 opens with two instances of Jesus clarifying what counts as “rest” on the Sabbath. If the Sabbath is associated with any number at all, it’s the number seven. Although interestingly, the concept of the Sabbath is also associated with the number eight in a portion of the Law that is not unlike the words of Jesus here in the Sign of Jonah. In the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the term Sabbath [H7673] is used in an expanded manner beyond its usual sense as the last day of the week.

There, for the first time in Scripture, “sabbath” is applied to days other than the seventh. It is applied to day one and day eight (i.e. the start of a new weekly cycle, an eighth day). (Leviticus 23:7-8,39). Note also that H7677/H7676 are other words used for Sabbath and are also first applied to a day other than a seventh in Leviticus 16:29-31. There the day is the Day of Atonement – the tenth day of the month (cf. the ten kings associated with the seven kings and the eighth king in Revelation 17:3,7,11-12).

Interestingly, both the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were to start in the seventh month (relative to the civil and liturgical calendars respectively) on the fifteenth day. This fifteen again draws our attention to the start of a new cycle – one day after a double cycle of sevens (Leviticus 23:6,34). The association of doubling with this day is also strengthened by the fact that these two feasts fell on the same day, only each day was being reckoned relative to a different calendar. So, in a sense, these two feasts overlapped conceptually to form a dual-day separated by a span of seven months.

This notion of duality despite separation of time is also supported by the fact that the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles both commemorate the exodus from Egypt. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is defined relative to the Passover which recalled God’s dealings with the firstborn males in Egypt (Exodus 12:12-20). The Feast of Tabernacles was to commemorate the exodus from Egypt (Leviticus 23:43). Indeed, the institution of the liturgical calendar in addition to the civil calendar was based on the very month in which Israel came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:2; 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Leviticus 23:5-6; Deuteronomy 16:1). At this point, the duality inherent in the Hebrew name for Egypt hardly seems coincidental. Egypt [H4714] literally means “double-strife” or “twice besieged”. An obvious and deliberate connection becomes apparent between the Great Tribulation, Egypt, doubling, repeating cycles of seven as represented by the numbers one beyond multiples of seven (e.g. eight, fifteen, fifty).

In support of the motif of redefining the Sabbath described above, similar to the previously mentioned feasts, in the case of the Feast of Trumpets also in the seventh month, the concept of Sabbath is re-applied to day one (Leviticus 23:24-25) instead of the earlier trend of associating it with day seven. It was also the day starting the Jewish New Year/Rosh Hashanah (according to the civil calendar) which was the start of a new cycle of the earth around Sun. There is also compelling evidence linked to Revelation chapter 12 that this day was either the day Christ was conceived in Mary’s womb or the day of His birth [3][4]. Astronomical events parallel to these also surround the likely day of Christ’s death [5].

Just as the above feasts allude to the repetition of cycles, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost began on the fiftieth day after Passover (Leviticus 23:15-16 cf. Acts 1:3; 2:1). This fiftieth day was the start of a new and eighth cycle following the seven cycles of sevens before it (i.e forty-nine days). The concept here is parallel to the schedule on which the Year of Jubilee fell and its connections to seven and eight as discussed in the section below regarding Solomon.

Solomon, the Son of David

In this context, Jesus also implies that He’s greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6) and Solomon (Matthew 12:41-42; Luke 11:31-32). It’s noteworthy that the first temple of God in the history of Israel was completed by Solomon after seven years of building, in the eighth month of Buwl (1 Kings 6:38). Buwl [H945] is related to the word for Jubilee [H3104]. As alluded to in the discussion on the feast days above, there was a special year described in Scripture which bore this name. It was the year after a period of seven periods of seven years each. A fiftieth year of jubilation when all debts would be canceled, all slaves freed, and all land was returned to its original owners (Leviticus 25,27; Numbers 36:4). Also related to Jubilee are the names Jabal [H2989], Jubal [H3106] and Tubal-Cain [H8423] who were amazingly all sons of Lamech and members of the eighth generation from Adam through Cain (Genesis 4:15,24). The duplicate Lamech of Seth’s line is also associated with the number seven as he lived 777 years (Genesis 5:31 MT). He also brought forth the comforter in the tenth generation (Genesis 5:28-29).

Strangely enough, like the Queen of the South/Sheba/Seven, Solomon’s mother was another disguised referenced to ‘seven’. She was Bathsheba (H1339 – daughter of an oath or seven). Interestingly, Solomon was also the son given to David in place of the deceased son whose birth had resulted from David’s adultery with Bathsheba. The death of this son was brought on by God as judgement on David for the murdering of Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 12:14). Curiously, this nameless son’s death occurred on the seventh day after it was announced (2 Samuel 12:18). It’s then that David alludes to this son’s continued existence in the afterlife. Immediately after this, Solomon’s birth is recorded, having been conceived by David’s “comforting” his wife from the death of their firstborn son.

Also, in connection with ‘seven’, David himself was the eighth son of Jesse and he had seven brothers who were all brought forward for consideration for the kingship (1 Samuel 16:10-11,17-12). The anointing of David occurred while Saul was technically still king over Israel. The struggle and overlapping kingships of Saul and David have some interesting eschatological implications.

Most striking though, in reference to seven and the eschatological significance of eight and biblical persons is that the duration of reigns of both Saul and his son Ish-Bosheth have connections to another prophetically significant and rare number in Scripture – forty-two (1 Samuel 13:1; 2 Samuel 2:10). What a coincidence that this number is also specifically associated with the duration of the career of the Sea Beast/eighth king (Revelation 13:5). I speak exhaustively about the prophetic significance of all the scriptural occurrences of forty-two in my article “Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon“.

For our current discussion though, it’s simply interesting to note that forty-two is ‘seven’ short of the perfect square forty-nine (i.e. ‘seven’ squared). It’s also 6 times 7. And it’s described as being analogous to 3 1/2 years (Revelation 11:2-3). That is, exactly half of a seven year period. In connection to these arch-enemies of king David, the tenth of the city that fell and the 7,000 who died (Revelation 11:13) seem related to the 70,000 people who died from the angelic plague from Dan to Beersheba during the census ordered by David himself (2 Samuel 24:15). These 70,000 are in conjunction with 800,000 fighting men from Israel. This plague was brought on by God after David chose the third of 3-laiden options for his divine punishment presented by the prophet Gad. The “three within a three” here suggests recursion in this reference (cf. also to the three days of the Sign of Jonah). David chose this third option because of its association with God’s mercy (see later section titled “Mercy, Not Sacrifice”). It’s after this that Gad tells David to build an altar to God on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. David buys the threshing floor from Araunah, builds the altar, offers sacrifices, and the plague stops. This threshing floor is very significant as it was destined to become the site of Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 3:1).

The account is very reminiscent of Abraham’s purchasing of the cave of Machpelah [H4375] to bury Sarah (2 Samuel 24:20-24; Genesis 23:3-16). Ironically, David ends up paying one eighth the number of shekels that Abraham had paid. Machpelah means doubling, another indication that this account has a secondary, recursive reference. This cave was the burial site of six people comprising three important husband-wife pairs (Genesis 49:29-31). Machpelah [H4375] occurs only six times in total in Scripture. Sarah [H8283] and Israel [H3478] were respectively the first and last (Genesis 23:19; 35:29) to be buried in this cave. Both names bear a close linguistic relationship to a Hebrew word used for the highest positions in government [H8280]. Compare also to the following words:

  • ‘atsarah’ [H6116] – solemn assembly
  • ‘tsarah‘ [H6869] – tribulation, enemy
  • ‘shor’ [H8270] – navel (derives from ‘sharar’ [H8324] – enemies

The allusions to the demise and replacement of oppressive, earthly rulers by perfected, heavenly rulers are strong in these passages.

Returning to Matthew 12, in the healing of the demon possessed man (Matthew 12:36), the Pharisees consider if Jesus was “the son of David” (again, calling to mind his son and successor Solomon).

Aside from seven and eight, Solomon is also associated with the significant number 666 and mark of the Sea Beast of Revelation (Revelation 13:18; 1 Kings 1:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13 [6]). Note, this is only a few verses from the mention of the forty-two month career of the Sea Beast (Revelation 13:5). And like 666, the eighth king requires a mind with wisdom (Revelation 17:9 cf. Revelation 13:8). Recall that the wisest man ever was king Solomon (1 Kings 3:12; 4:30; 10:23). In my article “Revelation’s 8th Scarlet Beast-King and the Octavii Rufii“, further connections are drawn between the numbers 666, 7 and 8.

Suspiciously, Adonijah [H138], the fourth son of David born in Jerusalem, Solomon’s brother and rival to the throne of Judah, is also connected to 666. He rose up against David and challenged his kingship (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Kings 1:5). His mother was Haggith [H2294], one of David’s wives. Haggith means ‘festive’ and derives from the same word (i.e. chagag [H2287]) representing the “feast days” covered earlier.  H2287 also means to move in a circle highlighting the centrality of cycles in the feast days.  It may not be coincidence then that Adonijah, like some of the feast days, is also associated with the number fifty (1 Kings 1:5). Haggai [H2291], the name of the great prophet that encouraged the rebuilding of the second temple in Jerusalem after the exile, also derives from this word H2287. Bathsheba even questions David as to why his promise to Solomon is not being fulfilled since Adonijah is on the throne instead of him. Suspiciously, a man deriving from the same word meaning ‘lord’ (i.e. ‘adown’ [H113]) as Adonijah is Adoniakim [H140] in conjunction with 666. He is mentioned as one of the returned exiles from Babylon (Ezra 2:13). Adoniakim means “my lord arises”. He is later mentioned in conjunction with 667 (Nehemiah 7:18).

It was Zadok [H6659] the priest who was praised for not supporting Adonijah (1 Kings 1:8,45; 2:35; 4:4; 2 Samuel 15:24-29; 17:15-16; 19:11). It’s believed that Zadok’s response to Adonijah here is the reason the priests described much later in the context of Ezekiel’s visionary temple would need to have a more specific lineage than merely being a Levite (cf.  1 Samuel 2:35; Ezekiel 40:46; 43:19; 44:15; 48:11). Another messianic figure named Melchizedek [H4442] is linguistically connected to Zadok. Both names derive from the same word meaning ‘righteousness’ [H6664]. Like Zadok, Melchizedek was associated with the transformation of the OT laws in the messianic age (Genesis 14:18; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20).

Samson

In the context of Jesus clarifying the purpose of the sabbath, just prior to declaring Satan’s kingdom divided, in Matthew 12:18-31, Jesus quotes Isaiah 42:4. This is the first Servant Song of Isaiah and parallels Cyrus. It’s interesting to note here that Cyrus was not only a deliverer like Christ, his name very likely meant “the Sun[7][8] or was at least viewed as a word-play for it [H3566,H3567,H2775]. Compare to the antichrist figure and 8th king of Daniel – Antiochus IV – whose title “Epiphanes” (i.e. “God manifest”) was often the fodder behind the insulting word-play used by his contemporaries to refer to him. He was often called “Epimanes” (i.e. “the mad one”). It’s no coincidence that the name of the 12th judge of Israel was named Samson [H8123] – “the Sun”. Looking a little deeper into the Sign of Jonah, it’s not surprising that we find further associations with Samson.

In a passage parallel to the Sign of Jonah in Mark 8:11-12, Jesus says that no sign will be given to the wicked and adulterous generation and the explicit mention of the Sign of Jonah is conspicuously absent. Yet, Jesus does mention that he would suffer, die and rise again three days later (Mark 8:31), just as in other accounts of the Sign of Jonah. Interestingly, these events take place near the Sea of Galilee where 4,000 people are fed from five loaves of bread. Compare to the feeding of the 5,000 from Luke 9; John 6; Mark 6; Matthew 14. It’s after this that the Pharisees have the gall to ask for this sign (Mark 8:11-12)!

Jesus then warns the disciples to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod (Mark 8:15). The disciples didn’t understand what he meant but instead of clarifying Himself, Jesus simply asks them to consider how many leftovers there were from the two separate miraculous feedings of the multitudes. In one instance, there were 7 baskets (Mark 8:8,20). In another, there were 12 (Mark 8:19). Both 7 and 12 are messianic numbers. It’s especially interesting to note that the miracle started with 7 loaves (Mark 8:5) after a duration of three days (Mark 8:2). Yet, to the amazement of Jesus, the disciples didn’t understand him after having them consider the significance of these numbers (Mark 8:21 cf. Matthew 14:22-36; John 6:16-21; Mark 6:45-51,53-56).

These miraculous events took place while He and the disciples were traveling via the Sea of Galilee to the region of Dalmanutha [G1148]. According to Strong’s, Dalmanutha means “slow firebrand”. Its gemetrial value is 606 (cf. to the 666 and 616 associated with the Sea Beast of Revelation and Nero). The Greek for Dalmanutha is similar to Dalmatia [G1149] which has connections to Titus, the helper of Paul (2 Timothy 4:10) and the Titus river (which formed Dalmatia’s northern boundary). The immediate fulfillment of the eighth king of Revelation 17 may have even been tenuously realized in the Roman general Titus. Strabo records that the people of Dalmatia had the peculiar practice of dividing their fields every eight years [9] (cf. also Sabbath Year’s for fields of Leviticus 25:1-7; 2 Chronicles 36:21). This observation apparently lead Webster to conclude that Dalmatia was derived from words for ‘divided’ and ‘plain’ [10]. It’s also been translated as “deceitful lamps” or “vain brightness” [11]. Compare to the bright morning star (i.e. the Sun) of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12; 2 Corinthians 11:14) and Christ (Revelation 2:28; 22:16). See also the lamp of the body in the context of Luke’s account of the Sign of Jonah (Luke 11:33-36).

A Hebrew word for “firebrand” is H181 which comes from a word meaning “to rake together” (i.e. gather). Strangely, also within the Sign of Jonah, Jesus makes reference to scattering and gathering (Luke 9:50; Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). We’ll have more to say about this scattering and gathering in the sections titled “Scorpions” and “Eggs”. Concerning firebrands though, this word H181 occurs only three times in Scripture in the following interesting locations:

  • Isaiah 7:4 – in the context of the sign of Immanuel there is a reference to the two tails of the firebrands of Syria – Rezin and Remaliah his son. Compare this to Samson’s tying together the tails of 300 foxes, attaching a firebrand [H3940] to each pair of tails and letting the foxes run through the vineyards, groves and grain fields of the Philistines burning them all (Judges 15:4-6). This concerned Samson being denied his wife and the Philistines burning her and her father to death. Foxes aren’t all that common in scripture, yet, we also find Jesus applying the term directly to Herod in response to his threats of murder toward Jesus (Luke 13:31-32). This occurs just prior to his pronouncing the woes on Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 23:37-39; Luke 19:41-44). Jesus also compares His social status to those of foxes (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58). And in the Song of Solomon, foxes that ruin vineyards are referenced (Song of Solomon 2:15).

  • Zechariah 3:2 – the firebrand occurs in the context of Satan.

  • Amos 4:11 – Israel compared to Sodom and Gomorrah and a firebrand snatched from the fire. (cf. Jeremiah 23:14; Revelation 11:8)

This account of the Sign of Jonah from Mark 8 also opens Matthew 16 followed by two predictions of Jesus’ death (16:21-23; 17:22-23) and his Coming in judgement (Matthew 16:27-28). It’s followed by the transfiguration where Christ speaks with Moses and Elijah and Christ compares His approaching death to that of John the Baptist who was the Elijah to come (Matthew 17:10-13; Luke 1:17). This again associates the tight parallels and coupling between Jesus and John the Baptist with the closeness depicted between Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament.  Jesus goes on to drive out another demon because His perverse generation couldn’t do it (Matthew 17:16-20; Luke 9:40-41). This also associates His resurrection with the final judgement.  He takes things even further and alludes to their potential as judges of the earth if they even had faith that was as small as a mustard seed.  Then, they could move ‘this’ mountain (Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6 [mulberry bush instead of mountain] cf. Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23; Revelation 8:8).

Then, from the Sea of Galilee, a fish delivers payment for the taxes of the “kings of the earth” for both Jesus and Peter with a 4-drachma [G4715] coin (Matthew 17:27). The regular drachma [G1406] occurs only in very short parable in Luke 15:8-9 conjoined with the number ten, a lamp, and the verb for ‘lose’ [G622apollymi] and the parable of the Prodigal Son. Compare apollymi to Apollyon [G623], the star and angel of the Abyss of Revelation 9:11 from where the dragon-empowered, Scarlet 8th-King Beast emerges (Revelation 9:1-2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3; Luke 8:31). Even Apollo was the Greek god of the Sun.

In light of these observations, it’s certainly no coincidence that the Greek for dragon [G1404– drakon] is quite similar to the word from drachma [G1406]. Drakon also derives from a form of the verb derkomai [δέρκομαι] meaning ‘to see’. This etymology makes sense because in antiquity, a distinct trait of dragons was their sharp eyesight[12][13]. See also the role of the conspicuous crop in the sacrifice of birds and its connection to sharp-sighted birds of prey in the later section titled “Eggs”. Compare derkomai to erchomai [G2064– ἔρχομαι] and proserchomai [G4334– προσέρχομαι], words meaning ‘to come’ and are very relevant to debates concerning the parousia [G3592] of Christ.

Although much more can be said, suffice it to say, the symbolism runs deep in these passages in the Sign of Jonah and they set our focus keenly on Solomon and Samson. Further, both Samson and Solomon are intimately associated with the Sun, riddles, comfort and the number ‘seven’ as are God and the Messiah. I embark on some of that exposition in my article here.

The point we can take away from all of these observations is that, like Solomon and Samson, the Queen of Sheba was quite messianic too and her significance likely extends far beyond her merely being a Gentile convert or judge of the 1st century. Duality, symmetry, finality and repetition and eschatological overtones are all over the rise of both David, Solomon, Samson and their immediate adversaries.

Eight-Linked Chain Between The Queen of Seven and Jonah

We’ve seen that Jesus mentions the Queen of Sheba in the context of what He called the “Sign of Jonah”. Though Jesus may have been the first to make such an explicit association between the Queen of Sheba and Jonah, his doing so was certainly not the first such recorded implicit connection. One strong connection is found in Tarshish.

When Jonah was rebelling after God asked him to preach to the men of Nineveh, he was going to flee to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3; 4:2).

Also, right after the account of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon and the reference to 666 talents of gold (1 Chronicles 9:13) that Solomon received every twelve months (the yearly cycle of the Sun), we find that in addition to the wealth bestowed on him by the Queen, much of his remaining wealth came from ships from Tarshish (2 Chronicles 9:21).

In all, he was made richer than all the other “kings of the earth”. Compare this to the 4th king of Persia in the opening of Daniel’s vision of the Kings of the North and South (Daniel 11:2).

Tarshish is loaded with indicators of its messianic significance. Eschatological themes also recur in following observations surrounding the accumulation of Solomon’s wealth:

  • This account of Solomon’s wealth is saturated with references to 4 and 6 (being halves of 8 and 12). Reference is made to the Euphrates river which was first mentioned in Scripture as the fourth and final river after the Tigris in Genesis 2:14 (2 Chronicles 9:26). The Tigris flowed toward the east of Asshur [H804]. Asshur derives from H833 meaning ‘blessed’. The same word from which Asher [H836], the eighth son of Jacob, is derived and who was “most blessed” out of all of these sons (Deuteronomy 33:24).  It can hardly be coincidence that Asher is also remarkably similar in meaning and form to the Hebrew words for ten [H6235,H6237,H6240,H4643,H6218,H6224,H6236,H6241] (cf. the repeated pairing of “8th” kings with 10 horns in Daniel 7:7,20,24; Revelation 17:11-12). In this same verse in 2 Chronicles, we find that Solomon’s rule extended from the river Euphrates to Egypt. The Hebrew for Egypt [H4714] is a dual of H4693 and literally means “double-straits” or “double-tribulation” (compare to Machpelah from above) . The idea embodied in the name of Egypt is simultaneously its dual nature as having a northern and southern portion (Upper and Lower) and being twice besieged. Even in the first mention of the Euphrates river in back in Genesis 2, an emphasis on duality is evident.  Just a few verses after verse 13 where the Tigris is mentioned, we find God’s warning to Adam about the eschatological dual-day of his death (Genesis 2:17). He is also given his “helper” who is made of bones of his bone and flesh of his flesh (i.e. dual references). The two would then become one flesh (Genesis 2:24; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:16). His mate is called woman [H802] and her term derives from the same word as Enos [H583], the firstborn of Seth. Enos means “man”. It was after his birth that men began to call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26). Seth survived 800 and 7 years after the birth of Enosh (Genesis 5:7 MT). His name occurs 6 times in Genesis (cf. man’s number from Revelation’s 666). Similar to the connection between the Tigris and Egypt above, Abraham was promised the land from Egypt to the Euphrates river and the land of 10 nations (Genesis 15:18). As is also mentioned in the account of Solomon’s wealth that opened this bullet point, the fulfillment of this promise was emphasized at the height of Solomon’s power (1 Kings 4:21) cf. 10 kings of the earth in Revelation 17. Also, all the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:21-22).

  • As with the Euphrates river and Egypt in God’s promise to Abraham from above, elsewhere, Israel is said to have extended from Dan [H1835 – lit. a judge] in the North to Beersheba [H884 – well of 7-fold oath] in the South (Judges 20:1; 1 Samuel 3:20; 2 Samuel 3:10; 17:11; 24:2,15; 1 Kings 4:25; 1 Chronicles 21:2; 2 Chronicles 30:5; Amos 8:14). The first occurrence of Beersheba in Scripture is associated with the fulfillment of another promise to Abraham, God’s promise to give him Isaac, circumcision on the eighth day, distress/tribulation [H7489] over the sending away of Hagar and Ishmael to the desert of Beersheba in South (Genesis 21:4,14). Compare also to the allegorical understanding of Hagar and Sarah presented in Galatians 4:21-31.

  • Solomon reigned half of 80 years (2 Chronicles 9:30).

  • Also, just as with 666, recursion and repetition are evident in the 300 small shields being made of 300 shekels of gold (1 Kings 10:17; 2 Chronicles 9:16).

Tarshish [H8659] has other messianic connections besides those of Solomon and Jonah. Tarshish is more than just a proper name for a city. It’s also the Hebrew for the gemstone beryl [H8658]. The Hebrew for beryl only shows up a handful of times in Scripture (seven to be exact). Curiously, each time it is associated with eschatological overtones and the concepts of symmetry and repetition. The following are some key observations regarding the messianic significance of the vast majority of the other biblical occurrences of Tarshish and beryl.

  • The wheels on God’s fiery whirlwind chariot-throne of judgement were like beryl (Ezekiel 1:16; 10:9). There were four such wheels but each was specifically a double-wheel making a total of eight wheels (Ezekiel 1:16; 10:10). I demonstrate here how crucial this chariot-throne is to properly interpret the enigmatic verses of Daniel 11:36-45 at the tail end of the prophecy of the kings of the North and South.

  • Beryl is associated with the King of Tyre, Levites and the New Jerusalem (See my article “Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon” for further details)

    • Beryl is the first stone in the fourth row of the high priest’s 12-stoned breast-plate (Exodus 28:20; 39:13).

    • Beryl is also the fourth stone mentioned in the attire of the Edenic description of the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13) which incidentally contains the same 12-gemstones as the the high-priest’s breast-plate (according to Septuagint). Tyre is elsewhere characterized by the role of Tarshish in her dealings (Isaiah 23:1,6,10,14).

    • Counter to all these points, in the New Testament, beryl is also the eighth stone in the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:20). Compare these 12 gemstones to those associated with Tyre and the breast-plate of the High Priest from above.

  • The body of the heavenly man who speaks throughout the last 3 chapters of Daniel regarding major eschatological events has a body like beryl (Daniel 10:6). This man speaks as he stands next to the Tigris [H2323] river. The Tigris is only mentioned elsewhere in Scripture one other time. That instance is in connection with the Tree of Life in the garden of Eden, where it was the 3rd of four head-waters into which the river that watered the garden in Eden divided (Genesis 2:8-14). I demonstrate here how this 4-headed river relates to the 4-headed leopard, the third beast of Daniel 7. The fourth Beast of Daniel 7 is parallel to the king of the North from Daniel 11:40. The heavenly man with the beryl-colored body from Daniel 10 opens Daniel 11 which in turn culminates in 11:40.

  • In the Song of Songs which is attributed to Solomon and thought by many to be a typological depiction of the marriage of the Church and Christ, the anonymous masculine lover in the account has hands like rings of beryl (cf. the aforementioned round beryl-colored wheels of God’s throne). His hair is drenched with dew. Compare this to the rise, fall, and rebirth of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:15,23,25,33; 5:21) where he is associated with eight on several different levels. (See my article “An Introduction to the Biblical Symbolism of the Number Eight“). Dramatically, the lover is about to burst through the door to his eagerly anticipating bride but he unexpectedly leaves and is nowhere to be found (Song of Songs 5:3,6). The bride is described as a garden. Her lover has left her to be beaten and bruised by the watchmen from the walls of the city of Jerusalem. This bride describes her lover as ruddy. Compare to David (1 Samuel 16:12;17:42) and the Nazarites of Zion (Lamentations 4:7). The Nazarites of Zion also occur in conjunction with Sea Monsters and cruel ostriches of the desert (v. 3 cf. ostriches in the later section titled “Eggs”) and delicacies of Eden (v. 5). See my article “Revelation’s 8th Scarlet Beast-King and the Octavii Rufii” for further significance of redness and being ruddy.

Given the significance of Greece in the prophecies of Daniel, it’s also worth noting that the second son of Javan [H3120], father of the Greeks, was Tarshish [H8659]. Further, both Jonah [G2495/H3124] and Javan derive from ‘wine’ [H3196]. Even Jonah’s hometown of Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25) means “winepress of the well” [H1662]. Gath [H1665], the root word of Gath Hepher meaning ‘winepress’ can also mean harp. The other root word Hepher is related to H2659 which can also mean confusion. Compare to the lakes of fire and harps in the context of the fall of Babylon, the birthplace of confusion, in the next section titled “The Harp-Sea of Eight”. Jonah also means ‘dove’. Jesus admonishes the disciples to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). The Spirit of God descends like a dove on Christ at His baptism by John the Baptist/Elijah (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). The older brother of Tarshish and first born son of Javan was interestingly Elishah [H473] (Genesis 10:4; 1 Chronicles 1:7). Elisha [H473] is an ally of Tyre [H6865rock], the target of judgement in Ezekiel 27:7. Compare to Simon son of Jonah [G2491] who was deliberately renamed by Christ to Cephas [G2786] aka Peter [G4074] – a rock. Given the duplicitous relationship between the prophets Elijah [H452] and Elisha [H477] and their bizarre association with the number forty-two and dual divine judgement ( cf. Revelation 11:1-13; 2 Kings 2:24), and the intimate connections between Satan, Tyre, Babylon, Peter (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33), Jonah, Jesus, John the Baptist and Elijah, surely these observations are immensely significant.

Also, of the relatively few times Tarshish is mentioned in Scripture, it’s often paired with Sheba and Seba (Psalm 72:10; Isaiah 60:6,9; Ezekiel 38:13; 27:12,22-23 [Sheba also paired with Assur]). Tarshish is often mentioned among groups of seven (Genesis 10:4; 1 Chronicles 1:7; 7:10; Esther 1:14 – note that Javan, the father of Tarshish, was the middle child of the seven sons of Japheth). Tarshish is also mentioned four times in Isaiah 23 where Tyre is told that after seventy years, she would take up her harp again and return to her prostitution (Isaiah 23:15-17). Tarshish is also paired with Tubal (cf. Tubal-Cain, an eighth generation) and Javan again in Isaiah 66:19.

The Harp-Sea of Eight

Sea Calmings

Another interesting aspect of the account of Jonah relevant to our discussion is its parallels between Jonah’s voyage on the sea toward Tarshish and a well-known voyage of Christ’s across the sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:36-41; Luke 8:22-25). Consider these parallels between Jonah and Jesus:

Interestingly, this wasn’t the only time Jesus crossed and calmed the sea of Galilee. There was another time when He was seemingly showing-off His miraculous powers for no good reason by walking on the waters of this sea (John 6:16-21). But, despite the gratuitous appearance, there is deep symbolic meaning to His actions here.

This companion event took place on the way to Capernaum [G2584], the “village of comfort“. The name Capernaum probably derives from H5151. This was also the name of the prophet Nahum, whose book in the Old Testament was dedicated entirely to predicting the destruction of Nineveh, the city to which Jonah was to preach repentance.

The previously mentioned calming of the Sea of Galilee was followed immediately by the casting of the Legion [G3003] of demons into pigs and having them drowned in the same sea after begging Jesus to not cast them into the Abyss before their appointed judgement (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-38). Compare to the Abyss in Revelation discussed earlier from where the 8th King-Beast would emerge. Consider also the bottomless pit to which Satan himself is detained and from which he subsequently emerges (Revelation 20:1-3; 7:10). Locusts with tails like scorpions also come from such an Abyss (Revelation 9:1-11). These occurred in conjunction with an army of lion-headed horses with tails like serpents and mouths that breathed fire and specifically sulfur [G2303] (Revelation 9:13-19).

Oddly, Luke is the only Gospel writer to refer to the sea of Galilee as a lake [G3041] and he always refers to it as such, never ‘sea’ as in the other gospels. The only other lake mentioned in the New Testament is the Lake of Burning Sulfur [G2303] to which the 8th King-Beast, the False Prophet, and Satan are cast to be tormented forever. Compare this to the firebrands correlating to this sea from the above section titled “Samson” and the treading of the winepress of God’s wrath in Revelation (Revelation 14:14,19-20; 19:15). It would appear that the Sea of Galilee was typological of Revelation’s Lake of Fire and that the actions of Jesus walking on and calming that sea have some relevance to how we understand the 2nd Death and Lake of Fire in Revelation. For a more in-depth explanation of the symbolism underlying the Lake of Fire and the 2nd Death, see my article “The Second Death and the 1,000 Years of Revelation“.

Harps

As we saw earlier, both Tarshish and the Sea of Galilee have significance pertaining to the final judgement. However, also like Tarshish, the Sea of Galilee has strong connections to the eschatological numbers 8, 7, 42, 12, and 666.

The Old Testament name for the Sea of Galilee was the Sea of Kinneroth [H3672]. Kinneroth literally means harps (cf. harp [H3658]). In the New Testament, a name of this sea is Gennesaret [G1082] also meaning ‘harp’. We might recall that David, a type of Christ, soothed Saul’s nerves by playing the harp after the spirit of God had departed from him (1 Samuel 16:14,23). God’s rejection of Saul and God’s promise to replace him with David was predicted (1 Samuel 13:13-14) in conjunction with the note that Saul reigned over Israel for forty-two years (1 Samuel 13:1). Kinneroth [H3672] also occurs exactly seven times in the Old Testament. As mentioned previously, David was the eighth son of Jesse and the eighth to be brought forward for the kingship (1 Samuel 16:10-11; 17:12). At this point, it may be worth noting that harp [H3658] occurs exactly forty-two times in the Old Testament, seven of those times in Ezra and Nehemiah in the accounts of the return from exile and quite often in the music/psalms of David.

Further, as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, Jubal of the eighth generation of Adam through Cain who is twice associated with the number seven in conjunction with the death of men (Genesis 4:15,23-24) was the father of all who played the harp [H3658] (Genesis 4:21). Both Jubal [H3106], Jabal [H2989] and their brother Tubal-Cain [H8423] were part of this eighth generation. All three names are related to the word for Jubilee [H3104]. The year of Jubilee was the year after seven cycles of seven year periods. The symbolism is parallel to that in the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost. This fiftieth year or day is really the start of the eighth cycle, just like Sunday is the eighth day, one day beyond the Sabbath. Pentecost was the day the symbolic fall of Babylon took place (Acts 2). That Tubal-Cain was also a worker of bronze and iron is of no small significance. Babylon is characterized by bronze and iron and these metals take a front seat in settling the identities of Daniels Four Kingdoms. I lay out the biblical significance of iron and bronze exhaustively in a public response to a prominent Full Preterst, Don K. Preston as it pertains to the distinguishing of the Sea Beast of Revelation 13 and the Fourth Beast of Daniel 7.

Harps even play a significant/central role in the introduction of the “seven angels with the seven last plagues” of Revelation. There, we see a sea of glass and those who had been victorious over the beast, and its image, and the number of its name (i.e. 666). They are holding harps given to them by God (Revelation 15:2). With these harps, they sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb where they refer to God as King of the nations. Harps only occur a handful of times in Revelation. Another prominent place is in the description of the four living creatures and twenty-four elders surrounding the throne of the lamb with seven horns and seven eyes about to open the seven seals of the scroll. Each of the four living creatures and elders held a harp. Recall that these living creatures are very similar to those whose spirit was in the eight wheels of God’s throne in Ezekiel (Revelation 4:6-8; Ezekiel 1:1-28; 10:1-22). Similar creatures and elders are seen with their harps in Revelation 14 where they sing a new song before the throne with the 144,000 who came out of the Great Tribulation. And in Revelation 18, the sound of harps are abolished from fallen Babylon.

Another sort of harp is mentioned in Scripture and not surprisingly, it has messianic connections too. This is the Gittite harp [H1665] related to the word for Gath from Gath Hepher, the hometown of Jonah. It can also be translated as ‘winepress’. This harp is mentioned only in Psalm 8, 80 LXX and 84. Psalm 8:6 is quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 and relates to the reign of Christ from Psalm 110:1 which in turn is quoted in Mark 12:36; Matthew 22:44; Hebrews 1:13. Psalm 84:10 compares one day with God to one thousand elsewhere. There are also four blessings ([H835– esher] (vv. 4,5,12) v. 6 [H1293]). God is referred to as a Sun (v. 11 cf. Revelation 21:23).

Aside from harps, music in general is almost universally associated with the numbers seven and eight as evidenced in the Hebrew sheminith [H8067]. This is rooted in the seven natural notes and the concept of the octave. Notes that are separated by octaves (from the Greek okto [G3638]) have equal names but different tones. That is, the octave is an indicator that the pattern of notes begins to repeat. For more information, see the section on Pythagoras under Revelation’s 8th Scarlet Beast-King and the Octavii Rufii.

Eight-Legged Kingdom Killers

Scorpions

Returning to the calmings of the Sea of Galilee, it’s after one calming that Jesus casts a legion of demons from a man into this same sea (Luke 8:30 also Mark 5:9,15). Legion [G3003] comes from the Latin words legō and lēgō which mean to “collect, gather“. Back in the Sign of Jonah, sandwiched between it and the announcement that Satan’s kingdom had been divided, Jesus oddly distinguishes between the polar nature of those who gather [G4863 – synago] and scatter [G4650skorpizo] (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). In the context, He also speaks of a blasphemy that will not be forgiven in “this age or the age to come” highlighting the prophetic significance of His words. lego [G3004] also exists in Greek and is related to the Latin meanings above (e.g. to gather) according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. It also means ‘to speak’. It’s probably significant that the Legion is the first demon that Jesus allowed to speak since the demons He drove out while in the synagogue at Capernaum (Mark 1:34; Luke 4:41). This Legion begs Jesus not to send them into the Abyss [G12] before their appointed time (Luke 8:31) cf. (Romans 10:7; Revelation 9:1-2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3).

Interestingly, the Greek for ‘scatter’ is linguistically related to G4651 – meaning scorpion. Scorpions are rarely mentioned in Scripture. Yet, against the odds, just a few verses earlier in the context of the Sign of Jonah Jesus makes explicit references to a scorpion (Luke 11:12). And just a chapter earlier (Luke 10:19) he likens “the enemy” to serpents and scorpions. Compare this to the scorpion-tailed locusts from the Abyss in Revelation 9:3,5,10 and the power given to the disciples in Luke 10:19.

In the Old Testament, scorpions [H6137] are also rare. They only occur in three locations.

  • Deuteronomy 8:15 where they are again paired with serpents (fiery ones); also flint [H2496] below

  • Again, in the initial days of the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam where his reference to scorpions ends up dividing the kingdom of Israel into northern and southern portions (1 Kings 12:11,14; 2 Chronicles 10:14). According to Gesenius’, the Hebrew for scorpion appears to be a blended form of ‘to wound’ [perhaps from H6094] and ‘heel’ [H6119]. This associates scorpions with the role of the serpent described in Genesis 3:15.

  • Again in the opening chapters of Ezekiel, we see scorpions where this “son of man” receives his call to service and is asked to eat a familiar looking scroll (Ezekiel 2:8-9 cf. Revelation 5:1-5; 10:8-10).

Eggs

It’s also interesting that the scorpion in the immediate context of the Sign of Jonah is a counterpart to an egg [G5609/H1000/H2495]. Eggs are likewise rare in scripture occurring only 6 times in total. Yet, with each occurrence, we find an uncanny connection back to the messianic judgement portrayed in the Sign of Jonah.

  • Deuteronomy 22:6-7 – instructions on handling a mother bird [H6833] and her eggs [H1000] in a nest. Jesus calls this section of the Law to mind in his discussion of the sabbath in the Sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:11-12; Deuteronomy 22:1-4 cf. to Luke 14:5.  A few verses earlier, Deuteronomy 21:22 mentions not leaving a body on a pole overnight (cf. John 19:31-37). Deuteronomy 22:30 mentions that a man shall not marry his father’s wife. This law is also mentioned in conjunction with a similar law regarding a brother’s wife (Leviticus 18:8,16; 20:21). These just happen to be related to the very reason John the Baptist (the Elijah who was to come) was beheaded (Matthew 14:3-6; Mark 6:17-22; Luke 3:19). Deuteronomy 22:10 says one should not plow with an ox and donkey together which again is cited as having a negative impact on purity of marriage (2 Corinthians 6:14). Even the word here for mother bird [H6833] is related to some other interesting Hebrew words:

    • H6842 – he-goat (cf. shaggy he-goat of Daniel 8)

    • H6843 – morning, diadem

    • H6854 – frog (cf. frogs from the mouths of the dragon, the eighth king-beast and false prophet in Revelation 16:13)

    • Zipporah [H6855] – associated with a bridegroom of blood, foreskin, and circumcision on the eighth day (Exodus 4:25-26). David, the man of blood (1 Chronicles 22:8) and his double-payment of foreskins (1 Samuel 18:25,27; 2 Samuel 3:14) for Saul’s daughter Michal [H4324/H4323] (cf. Michael [H4317]). She was David’s 3rd wife, withheld from him after payment. Note, that Bathsheba was David’s 4th wife as she was next in line after Michal.

  • Job 39:13-14 – ostrich [H5133] does not have wisdom, lays eggs [H1000] in the sand, cares not that her labor was in vain, treats her young harshly, laughs at horse and rider on the horse; like a locust, eats up the ground, but rushes off when the trumpet of battle sounds. Again, calls to mind the horse-faced scorpion-tailed locusts of Revelation 9:9,17-19. Next, we learn that the hawk [H5322] flies by her wisdom (Job 39:26) and the eagle [H5404] can be found near the dead (Job 39:30 “where the slain are, there it is” cf. with Matthew 24:28; Luke 17:37). These are sharp-sighted birds of prey. After this, the eschatological beasts Behemoth and Leviathan are shown to Job.

    • Leviticus 1:16 – in the burnt offerings of doves, the whole passage along which food travels (i.e. the crop [H4760] or alimentary canal) was to be burned on the east side of the altar. H4760 – derives from ‘see’ [H7200] in reference to the conspicuous nature of the crop. H7201 which refers to a bird of prey also comes from this word again because of their sharp eyesight. Recall our earlier observation that dragons also had keen vision.  Notice also that the burnt offering of male goats and sheep in this same section had a unique stipulation that they were to be burned at the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:10-11). Were these sacrifices typological of the defeat of that for which the Scarlet 8th King-Beast symbolized – the sustenance of evil?

    • The Hebrew for egg derives from white [H2495] which also derives from H2492halam – dream.  Amethyst [H306] also derives from halam. This was the 3rd stone in the 3rd row of the high priest’s breast plate (Exodus 28:19; 39:12) and the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Compare also to the mysterious white stone given by Christ to victors (Revelation 2:17).

    • Zechariah 6:14Helem [H2494] was the first to be crowned after Joshua, crowned as the High Priest and “the branch” and he would build the temple and be a priest upon the throne and bring peace between the kingship and the priesthood

    • H2496– flint, rock, sharp, hard stone – related to H2495whiteDeuteronomy 8:15, Deuteronomy 32:13; Job 28:9; Psalm 114:8; Isaiah 50:7

    • H5161Jeremiah 29:31 – false prophet Shemaiah [H8098hear cf. H8085hear, obey] the Nehelamite taken captive to Babylon.  Compare to the “ever hearing, ever seeing” passage in Matthew 13:14; Mark 4:12; Acts 28:26; Isaiah 6:9. Also, the one who has ears to hear what the spirit says to the seven churches will receive a white stone (Revelation 2:17). Note also that as already discussed, Simon [G4613] son of Jonah is rooted in the Hebrew ‘to hear‘ [H8095] was renamed to ‘stone‘ by Jesus.

  • Isaiah 10:14Isaiah 10:23 is quoted in Romans 9:27-28 highlighting the messianic significance. Also Isaiah 10:12 – God raised up Assyria to judge Zion but soon God would punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart. The Assyrian king reaches for the nations as people gather them like abandoned eggs. But God will lash them with a whip calling to mind Rehoboam contrasting himself with Solomon’s whip and scorpions. The ax is at the root of the trees, their yoke will be broken because Israel had grown so fat [H8081 from H8083eight] (Isaiah 10:27). Indeed, this very verse also comes into heavy play when explaining the symbolism of the kings of the North and South (Daniel 11) as well as the interpretation of the Eighth king and Queen of ‘Seven’.

  • Isaiah 59:5 – the wicked hatch the eggs of vipers (same verse, spider [H5908] and serpent, bears, noon sunlight).  Isaiah 59:7-8 is quoted in Romans 3:15-17 and Isaiah 59:20 is quoted in Romans 11:26-27. That two separate sections of this chapter are quoted in the New Testament indicates its messianic significance.

  • Job 6:6white of an egg (also from whiteness) tasteless without salt

Salt

Spiders

Spiders, like scorpions, are often venomous and have eight legs. Compare to Leviticus 11:20-23 where most flying bugs that walk on all fours are to be unclean (despite the fact that there are no known bugs that have only four legs). These are paired with the sharp-sighted birds of prey which are also unclean (Leviticus 11:13-19). Given their obvious symbolic significance, the explicit mention of scorpions and spiders is conspicuously absent from the dietary laws.

They are also exceedingly rare in the rest of Scripture. The only other places spiders are mentioned are Job 8:14 and possibly Proverbs 30:28 where the word H8079 is translated spider in some translations [KJV, YLT, NKJV, WEB].

  • In Job 8:14, the spider [H8079] is likened to the wicked.

  • In Proverbs 30:28, the translation of the word H8079 is problematic on many levels and is curiously translatable in several ways. However, that the section this word occurs in has messianic significance can hardly be doubted. Consider the following observations.

    • The context contains four of the tiniest animals on the earth that are exceedingly wise (cf. Revelation 17:4; Matthew 11:19; Revelation 13:18; 1 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13). The refrain of phrases involving three emphasized with a terminating four occur only in this chapter in Proverbs four times (vv. 15,18,21,29).

    • In fact, the number four occurs nowhere else in Proverbs except in this section and it occurs five times. It’s this verse involving the possible spider that is the only occurrence out of these five instances where ‘four’ is not also accompanied by ‘three’.

    • The section of fours opens with Proverbs 30:15 where the blood-sucking horse-leech has two insatiable daughters that shout a double cry of “Give! Give!”.

    • The originator of the Proverbs only has two requests of God (Proverbs 30:8). One of them is only for his daily bread ( cf. Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5-9; 1 Samuel 21:1-6; 2 Chronicles 8:13; Deuteronomy 8:3; Job 23:12; Matthew 4:4; 6:11; 12:3-4; Luke 4:4; 11:3). It was just prior to the giving of the Sign of Jonah where Jesus teaches the disciples to pray asking only for their daily bread. The Sign of Jonah is also given in the context of a recollection of the time David was given the sacred Bread of the Presence that was renewed “Sabbath by Sabbath”. This bread was also known as the “Bread of War” or “Bread of Faces”. This reflects the fact that bread [H3899] actually derives from the Hebrew for war [H3898]. The Hebrew used for this Bread of the Presence is H4635 which itself derives from the same word as that used for army, row and order [H4634]. Further, Jewish tradition even records that this bread was replaced at the north and pushed south so the bread always remained present [14][15]. The key to properly interpreting Daniel’s vision of the kings of the North and South involves a similar transition and directly relates to the establishment of Octavian as the model for the Scarlet 8th-King Beast of Revelation 17.

In the context of the sign of Jonah, Jesus calls to mind the blasphemy of the Name (Matthew 12:30-32). In Leviticus 24, such blasphemy of a nameless son is recorded.  The name of mother to this nameless son derives from the word for ‘peace’ and is similar to Solomon. Compare to Zion’s new name (Isaiah 62:1-2) and the Mark of the Lamb (Revelation 2:17; 3:12; 14:1; 21:2,10; 22:4) in contrast to the Mark of the Beast. This nameless son referred between the directives concerning the bread of the presence and those for the feasts involving seven (Leviticus 24:10-23). His mother was also the daughter of a Danite. Dan was the tribe of judgement [H1835]. Dan is also associated with serpents in Judges 18:30-31; Genesis 49:16-17. This Danite was named Dibri [H1704] (cf. “my word”, oracle [H1687], the 4th judge Deborah [H1683], bee [H1682].

It’s in this same context that Jesus mentions the scorpions and eggs. Proverbs 30:4 (see above) also makes reference to the unknown name of the son of God who had ascended and descended from heaven. The two daughters of the horse-leech are preceded with a description of the wicked who oppress the poor.  The proverb/prophecy [H4853] is attributed to Agur [H94]. Agur means “gathered“. He was the son of Jakeh [H3348] meaning “blameless”. The name Ucal [H401] which also occurs in this context means “devoured”. The prophecy was spoken to Ithiel [H384]. Ithiel means “God has arrived” or “God is with me“. Compare to the sign of Immanuel from Isaiah 7. A man with this exact name Ithiel was also seventh of the eight Benjamites who comprised the one tenth chosen by lots to take up residence in the rebuilt Jerusalem after the exile (Nehemiah 11:7). cf. 1/10 of the city that fell in in the context of the 7 thousand people who were killed in Revelation 11:13 (see also the above section “Solomon, the Son of David” concerning the messianic significance of the census of David).

The Ithiel of Nehemiah 11:7 is introduced as the son of Jesaiah [H3470]. Jesaiah is also the Hebrew name used for Isaiah the prophet. It was Isaiah whose son became the sign of Immanuel. Immanuel, like the Ithiel of Proverbs 30 also means “God Is With Us” (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Matthew 1:23). Jesaiah was also the eighth of twenty-four courses of twelve musicians appointed by David to serve in the temple (1 Chronicles 25:15 cf. Revelation 7 and the 144,000). Jesaiah derives from H3647 from which Joshua [H3091] also derives.

Mercy, Not Sacrifice

Also in the Sign of Jonah, Jesus calls to mind what it means for God to desire mercy, not sacrifice (Matthew 12:7). This is an allusion to Hosea 6:6 and Micah 6:6-8. This passage in Hosea mentions restoration on the third day (Hosea 6:2) in the context of a judgement like the Sun and an appointed harvest. It’s also quoted in Matthew 9:13 during the calling of Matthew the tax collector and attributing miracles performed by Jesus to the prince of demons (v. 33).

Notice in the other passages complimentary to the Sign of Jonah, Jesus says that His death will be accomplished by his delivery into the “hands of men” (Matthew 17:22; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:44). Elsewhere, in an account of David’s deep distress mentioned earlier, the mercy of God is contrasted with the indignity of falling into the cruel hands of men (2 Samuel 24:14; 1 Chronicles 21:13). In the context, there are references to multiples of seven (2 Samuel 24:13; 1 Chronicles 21:14), eight (2 Samuel 24:9), fifty (2 Samuel 24:9,24). The passages of 2 Samuel 24:11-13; 1 Chronicles 21:10-12 present tri-fold references to three (though, in the Septuagint version of 2 Samuel, seven appears in place of the first “three”). The mercy of God follows a plague of judgement brought on Israel whereby seventy thousand people died from “Dan to Beersheba” (2 Samuel 24:13; 1 Chronicles 21:14). God relents just before Jersusalem is to be destroyed. This event prompts David, the sinful shepherd, to purchase the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite so he can build an altar and offer sacrifices. Upon doing so, the plague from God was ended. This threshing floor would become the site of the first temple (1 Chronicles 22:1; 2 Chronicles 3:1). The interaction between David and Araunah the Jebusite is very reminiscent of Abraham’s interaction with Ephron the Hittite for the field and cave of Machpelah/doubling (Genesis 23:16).

These parallels make it obvious that the significance of the Sign of Jonah extended beyond Christ’s death and resurrection after 3 days. They very likely relate to His double-calming of the Sea of Galilee and the judgement of His wicked generation.

The Cycle of Eights

As we witnessed above, there are many direct and indirect references to ‘seven’, ‘eight’ and messianic motifs packed into this small space in Matthew 12 and the parallel verses in Luke 11. It’s clear that they capitalize on typological symbolism that was set in motion early in the Old Testament. One might ask what all of this could mean? Why is Solomon so tightly associated with the eschatological numbers 7, 8, 42 and 666? And why does Jesus so closely associate the judgement of His generation with key aspects of Solomon’s reign, particularly the temple, the Queen of Sheba, and Jonah’s flight to Tarshish in rebellion? And why do eight demons return to the cleansed house in the analogy of the man cured his demon possession opposite the actual healing of a demon possessed man who was unable to speak or hear (cf. Matthew 13:14; Mark 4:12; Acts 28:26; Isaiah 6:9)? Further, what is the significance of the 8th king in Revelation 17 and his burning of the Harlot. How does all this relate to the Great Tribulation described in these contexts?

It doesn’t take much imagination to see that what this symbolism demonstrates is that while the “power” underlying the seven self-magnifying kings will repeatedly regain influence in other earthly kingdoms/governments for an indefinite number of cycles, that repetition will eventually stop because their underlying “power” will have come to its end.

‘Seven’ is a number of finality/termination and perfection. The seven kings are images of perfection in their own eyes. Yet, they last only a little while and come to their end. But, until the “power” beneath them is totally vanquished, earthly kingdoms of the same temperament will continually rise in their place as evidenced by the symbol of the eighth king. Eight is a messianic number alluding to resurrection, recurrence and repetition as I demonstrate in a concise though non-exhaustive treatment in my article “An Introduction to the Biblical Significance of the Number 8“. However, just as Dan, the serpent-judge of the North, is missing from the tribes mentioned in the 144,000 of Revelation 7 (cf. Ezekiel 48), imperfect earthly judges will be removed in the final judgement. When corruptible, earthly kingdoms stop rising (i.e. the eighth king is finally destroyed) that’s when the Queen of ‘Seven’ will reign. She will be the final, perfect, everlasting Queen, having been married to the final, perfect, everlasting King. She is the Church. It is her who will rise in the judgement to condemn the generation of Jesus. And it will be an earthly rising. No more earthly queens will rise after her. The “power” underlying the Beast will never gain influence over another earthly kingdom again. Sin and man’s oppression of one another on earth will not endure forever.

It’s of paramount significance that the Queen of Sheba came from the South to judge Solomon’s fitness for reigning in the North. As I demonstrate in my video and series of articles “Daniel 11:36-45: Faulty Forecast, Future Finale, or Focal Flip“, the symbolism of North vs. South as well as God’s fiery 8-wheeled whirlwind-like chariot-throne of judgement are key elements to consider when unraveling the enigmatic nature of the tail-end to the prophecy of the “Kings of the North and South” of Daniel 11. God’s judgements symbolically come from the North. Recipients of judgement are symbolized by the South. God judges nations by raising up other nations against them. But, eventually, those nations grossly abuse their power due to their evil motives and must be judged themselves by another nation. Earthly executors of judgements residing in the North are always eventually moved to be executed themselves in the South.

In the final days of the Greek Empire, that executor was Rome. In the second phase, Rome also judged Israel in 70 A.D. Just as Antiochus was raised up to judge Egypt and Israel in Daniel 8 and 11, Rome was raised up to judge Greece and Israel too. Revelation 17 indicates that another nation, an eighth king, would be raised up to judge Rome.

So it’s also no small coincidence that the Queen of Sheba subsequently returned to the South after her favorable judgement on Solomon (1 Kings 10:13; 2 Chronicles 9:12). After Christ and His queen (i.e. saints/citizens of heaven) judged Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Church then returned to her lowly position in the South. Residence in the south symbolized her temporary suffering of unjust judgements at the hands of earthly rulers overextending their God-given authority to be executors of judgement on wicked nations. Just as had been the case since the fall of man. This parallels David’s service to Saul, even after David himself had been anointed king. It also parallels the masculine lover in the Song of Songs whose consummation with his bride seemed imminent, literally right at the door, but he suddenly vanished leaving her alone to be abused for an indefinite period of time. Likewise, Michal was withheld from David after his double-payment of foreskins to Saul, yet a Michael is seen rising in the final judgement (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:7) just as the Queen of Sheba does.  The same can be seen in the delayed rule of Solomon on account of Adonijah and Samson being deprived of the wife he was promised.

In Christ’s resurrection, He rose on the 8th day, the Sun’s day. Consistent with other biblical uses of the number eight, this symbolized not only rebirth but that for a time, Christ would continually rise and set just as the Sun does. The Coming of the Son of Man would be like the bright-shining [G796] that flashes in the east and is seen in the west (Matthew 24:27 cf. Cyrus in Isaiah 45:6). His physical judgement over the kingdoms of the world would appear in waves, just as God’s judgement had in the past as He acted through earthly kingdoms. Christ’s first physical resurrection was not finalized. It was interrupted by His ascension forty days later (Acts 1:3 cf. Jonah 3:4). The judgement on the Harlot of Nineveh had been delayed just as the clock ran out.  Yet, He would return just as He said He would so that even those who pierced Him would perceive Him (Revelation 1:7-8). Just a verse later, the vision concerning this Day of the Lord is found to have been given to John on the Sun’s day, the very day in which Christ had been resurrected from the dead just after sunrise (Revelation 1:10; Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).  In the Sign of Jonah, Jesus said only one sign would be given to His generation and that sign was going to be His resurrection from the dead. If the sign alluded to in Revelation 1:7-8 was the 70 AD judgement on Jersusalem, then that would contradict the statement of Jesus giving the wicked generation two categorically different signs. Therefore, Revelation 1:7-8 cannot be talking about the 70 AD judgement. It must be referring to the Sign of Jonah which was specifically about Christ’s physical resurrection and the figurative rising of the Sun in judgment and destruction. This coming on the clouds must be a return in the form in which He left as an extension of His resurrection.

That’s also the significance of the eighth king of Revelation 17. The reason He’s the eighth is because he’s not the earthly manifestation of the final and perfect Judge. The Beast had to be raised up repeatedly to judge the self-glorifying judges before ‘him’. He would have to be given the authority of another earthly kingdom to judge the old (i.e. Rome).  And after this, he would be raised again and again indefinitely until the One who could break the cycle would come.

The Cycle Breaker

But in the New Jerusalem, there is no more night. The daily cycle of the Sun does not exist there (Revelation 21:23; 22:5). The new Sun never sets and consequently has no need to rise there. And the sea – that abysmal home to the Beast lying en route to Tarshish; the origin of the cycle of eighth earthly, imperfect judges of nations – is gone (Revelation 21:1). Its appetite for the lives of men had been permanently squelched just like the “seas of eight” calmed by Jesus and Jonah. 8-stringed harps and the octaves of music in general were abolished from Babylon (Revelation 18:22).

This dovetails nicely with Christ’s description of the judging Queen of the South as a prophesy that a day would come when His bride would finally and forever return to her rightful place in the North to serve as a perfectly righteous and just earthly judge with Him.

Once the true earthly king of ‘seven’ arrives (Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6), there will be no more need for earthly eighth kings to rise and judge the unrighteous, imperfect, self-glorifying false-sevens who are continually raised up by God in the order of things post-70 A.D. Compare this to the “Parable of the Persistent Widow” and the actions of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). After this parable, Christ rhetorically asks if He would find justice on the earth when He came. The answer is of course He wouldn’t. That would only happen after His kingdom was finally and completely established on the earth.

Israel was a representative of the kingdoms of the entire planet. Just as Adam was a representative of all of mankind. They were dual references and types foreshadowing something physically greater in magnitude than themselves. The 70 A.D. judgement on Israel was likewise a typological judgement and sign foreshadowing one that would come upon the rest of the kings of the nations elsewhere on the physical planet. Jerusalem was truly the navel of the planet (Ezekiel 5:5; 38:12 NIV) and judgements on her prefigured judgments on all of mankind.  Until that time, earthly nations would be raised up and used by God to judge and destroy other nations. But these judging nations aren’t just, righteous judges. They always have evil motives eventually requiring judgement themselves by yet another imperfect judge.

The Queen of Sheba illustrates that there would come a time when no further eighth kings would be needed to judge earthly nations with physical warfare and the casualties of biological death of the innocent. That Ruler exemplifying the true perfection embodied in the number seven would judge righteously forever, never needing to be physically destroyed Himself. An earthly King who would be deserving of such a title of perfection as ‘seven’ would arise to rule the earth eliminating the need for nations to make war any longer (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3; Ezekiel 39:7-16). He would be truly righteous, not solely in His own eyes. He would judge perfectly, justly, and providentially with His bride. His Queen who had for so long been suffering unjustly in the Great Tribulation of the South alongside the true rebels would join her King in the North to forever judge and provide for the nations on the earth. Together, they would forever reign as the physical King and Queen of Sheba. Until then, the Great Tribulation would continue on the earth. The Great Tribulation extended beyond 70 AD but it would not last forever.


1) Chilton, David (1987) The Days of Vengeance p. 352
2) Ibid. p. 436
3) Ibid. pp. 300-303
4) Martin, Ernest L. (1991) The Star that Astonished the World
5) Larson, Frederick A. (2007) The Star of Bethlehem
6) Chilton, David (1987) The Days of Vengeance p. 350
7) Plutarch, Artaxerxes 1.3
8) Photius, Epitome of Ctesias’ Persica 52
9) Strabo, Geography 7.5.6
10) Charnock, Richard Stephen (2019) Local Etymology; a Derivative Dictionary of Geographical Names
11) Calmet, A., Taylor, C. (Charles) (1847) Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible. 9th ed.
12) Skeat, Walter W. (1888) An etymological dictionary of the English language p. 178
13) Wyld, Henry Cecil (1946) The Universal Dictionary Of The English Language p. 334
14) Menahot 99b
15) Maimonides, Mishnah Torah, Tamid 5.4


A good portion of my articles on biblical prophecy and typology focus on the underappreciated and poorly understood symbolism underlying numbers in scriptural contexts.  In particular, I expound a great deal on the symbolism underlying the number eight and how the Bible develops this symbolism.  That research demonstrates quite clearly that eight is a symbol of the start of a new cycle in a series of repeating cycles.  I’ve argued that this symbolism also applies to the eighth king of Revelation 17, suggesting that the focus of this king was more on the world governments that  would arise beyond the Roman Empire and was not a Roman figure himself.  This is counter to the contention by many preterists that the eighth king was merely a reference to another, non-sequential Roman king, such as Vespasian or Titus.

As further evidence that such a pattern does exist in Scripture and this eighth king really does symbolize the beginning of a new cycle of kings from a nation other than Rome, in this post, we’ll take a look at one very tangible, historical king who was the beginning of just such a new cycle of rulers and has very real and unmistakable associations with the number eight.  Also, like the eighth king of Revelation, this king is acutely connected with the color red.

Caesar Augustus

The iteration in the repeating cycle of world governments that preceded the Roman Empire was of course the Greek Empire.   As Dr. Robert Gurney described in his book “God in Control” and I demonstrated in my post “Daniel 11:36-45: Faulty Forecast, Future Finale or Focal Flip“, the transition of power from Greece to Rome is described in the book of Daniel as Rome becomes the king of the North in the second clause of Daniel 11:40.  The last portion of Greece mentioned in Daniel 11 to be annexed to the Roman Empire was Egypt (Daniel 11:42) [1].  The military leader and emperor-to-be who accomplished this was Augustus Caesar.  Before becoming emperor though, Augustus was known by his given name of Gauis Octavius.

Discerning readers might notice at once that Octavius sounds as though it may bear some relationship to the English prefix “octo-” meaning “eight” (e.g. octagon, octopus, octave, octogenarian).  And such readers would be entirely correct in making this connection for Octavius does indeed have its roots in the number eight.  Octavius comes from the Latin word ‘octavus’ meaning ‘eight[2].  This is similar to the Greek word used of the eighth king in Revelation 17:11 which is ‘ogdoos’ [G3590] and derives from the Greek for eight – ‘okto’ [G3638].  Such translations of ‘eight’ and ‘eighth’ can be easily seen in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Scriptures as well:

Like his prominent role in the prophecy of Daniel 11, Gauis Octavius also has a special place in the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke.  He is recorded as the Emperor at the time of Christ’s birth (Luke 2:1).  Here, he is referred to as Augustus Caesar.  Augustus was a title bestowed on Gauis Octavius by the Roman Senate.  Caesar is both a reflection of his role as emperor and the fact that he was adopted as a son to his great uncle Julius Caesar, the first Emperor of the Roman Empire.  This passage in Luke also has Augustus mentioned along with the governor of Syria, Quirinius.  This parallels the ruler of Syria who was the focus of much of Daniel’s other prophecies as well.  This ruler was Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  Incidentally, Antiochus IV was also an eighth king in Daniel 7 [3].  Both Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“God Manifest”) and Augustus Caesar were antichrist figures strongly associated with the number eight.

As a side note, but one seriously worth mentioning, Antiochus IV literally has the written form of what could be seen as anti-Ochus.  This is readily apparent by comparing the Greek for Antiochus [Αντιόχος] to the Greek for antichrist [G500ἀντίχριστος] (1 John 2:18,22,4:3; 2 John 1:7).  Both words incorporate the Greek prefix anti- [G473].  The ‘ochus’ in Antiochus seems most likely to me to be a prophetic reflection of Darius II whose birth name was Ochus [Ὦχος][4].  Darius II was the Persian King who made good on the frustrated promises of Cyrus (Ezra 3-4; 5:13-17; 6:3,14 cf. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-8). Both Cyrus and Darius II Ochus were messianic figures to Israel and I believe this fact accounts for their identities being conflated to form part of the enigmatic figure from the book of Daniel known as Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31; 9:1; 11:1).  That an anti-Ochus should rise up as the anti-Messianic figure of Daniel in contrast to the messianic figure of Ochus is more than fitting.

Scarlet, Crimson, and Redness

But besides the conjoined reference to the ruler of Syria and his association with the number eight and Octavius/Augustus, the second chapter of Luke also focuses our attention on the number eight by its mention of the circumcision of Christ eight days after his birth (Luke 2:41-52). This section records a prophetess named Anna from the tribe of Asher (eighth son of Israel) who was married for seven years but was widowed for 84 years (Luke 2:36-40). As usual, the seven and eight hint at something eschatologically significant. Realizing this, we might notice that 84 is 42 times 2.  We might then recall that 42 months = 3 ½ years (Revelation 11:2-3).  So the 84 here in Luke almost certainly alludes to the presentation of Jesus at the temple as fulfilling a prophetic 7 year period (cf. the last ‘seven’ of Daniel 9:27).  Further, the birth of Jesus is also associated with 42 months (i.e. 1,260 days) in Revelation 12:1-6.  Further still, the last ‘seven’ of Daniel’s 70-weeks is connected with the rise of Michael (Daniel 10:13,21; Revelation 12:7), the number 62 and Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31; 9:1,25-26).

Notice also in this section of Revelation 12, we are introduced to a great red dragon (Revelation 12:2) who attempts to destroy the young Christ.  A counterpart to this red dragon is found in the Scarlet Eighth king-beast of Revelation 17:3.  This beast from the Sea/Abyss is associated with a career that lasts 42-months/1,260 days (Revelation 11:2-3,7).  Given that it is repeated here twice in connection to two parallel entities, we might wonder what the significance of red might be.  Historically, Octavius/Augustus is also connected intimately with the color red.

The first of the Octavii ancestors of Augustus to rise to prominence was Gnaeus Octavius Rufus.  After humble beginnings, this man  became a Roman quaestor in 230 B.C.  Several others in his line also adopted the title Rufus. They are known to historians as the Octavii Rufi.  Eerily, the word ‘rufus’ is Latin for ‘red’.   As with the Latin words for eight, this can be most readily seen in the Latin Vulgate (Genesis 25:25; Leviticus 13:42; 1 Samuel 16:12; 17:42; Revelation 6:4; 12:3 VUL).  This is all the more significant when we realize that along with Augustus, several other Caesars were descendants of the Octavii including Claudius, Caligula, and most significantly, Nero.  In fact, there are ancient historical records that indicate that both Julius Caesar and Nero had red hair.  Oddly, Latin words for Caesar (Caesar, Caesaris) are also apparently rooted in the Latin words for ‘hairy‘, caesariēs, caesarieī. (See also G2541 and H8163).  Compare this to the shaggy he-goat of Daniel 8:21 which represented Greece.  Also, like Antiochus IV the ruler of Syria, a Hebrew word meaning Syrian [H726] traces its origin back to the color red [H119].

In a manner becoming of an antichrist, the association with red is a reflection of prefigurements of Christ who had deep connections with the color red themselves:

  • Adam [H120/H121] – derives from H119 which means dyed-red or ruddy.  Other Hebrew words reflect this association of Adam with the color red as well (H122, H125, H132).  This association is also evident in the Hebrew word for blood [H1818].
  • Edom/Esau – Like Adam, Edom also derives from the word for red.  He is also infamous for his hairy, red facade (Genesis 25:25) and the rash squandering of his inheritance for a bowl of red lentil soup (Genesis 25:30).
  • David – another prefigurement of Christ is described as being ruddy (1 Samuel 16:12; 17:42).  He was also the eighth son of Jesse.
  • The Masculine lover in the Song of Solomon – There is evidence that this book is largely a typological portrayal of Christ’s marriage to the Church.  The male, messianic lover in the account is described as being ruddy (Song of Solomon 5:10).
  • Mordecai – the name Mordecai is somewhat ambiguous as it can mean “Servant of Man” or “Servant of Mars”.  In either case, the name has Messianic overtones.  The Hebrew word for Mars is ma’adim [מַאֲדִים] (cf. Adam – אָדָם) and plays off of the visible redness of the planet in the night sky.  Mars was also the God of war.  Both the origin and the eventual abolishing of war are major eschatological subjects in Scripture (Genesis 4:8,15,23-24; 9:6; Isaiah 2:4; 11:6-9; 65:25; Ezekiel 39:2-6,9-16; Micah 4:3; Matthew 5:21-26; 23:35; Luke 11:51).  The Octavii themselves had their origin in a  worshiper of Mars[5]. From the perspective of the “Servant of Man”, Christ Himself said He did not come to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45).
  • Obed-Edom – Akin to the name Mordecai, Obed-Edom [H5654] also means “Servant of Edom” or “He Who Serves the Edomites”.  Given the close association between Edom, Adam and Mars above, it’s not at all hard to see Obed-Edom as representing a “Servant of Man/Mars” himself.  It hardly seems coincidental that like Darius the Mede, Antiochus IV and the Messiah, Obed-Edom is associated with both the numbers 62 (see above) and 8 (2 Samuel 6:10-12; 1 Chronicles 13:13-14; 15:21; 26:4-5,8). Further, Obed-Edom and his descendants were musicians who played the harp according to the ‘sheminith [H8067] (i.e. an 8-stringed instrument or a tonal octave) (1 Chronicles 15:21).  They were also doorkeepers/porters [H8179, H7778] in charge of protecting the temple treasures.  Like Jehoash, the king of Israel who took the treasures that had been explicitly entrusted to Obed-Edom (2 Chronicles 25:24), Belshazzar, king of Babylon desecrated the very same treasures just prior to his surprise defeat by 62-year old Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:2-4,30-31).  The Hebrew words for porter also bear a striking resemblance to the Hebrew words for whirlwind [H5590, H5591, H8175] which are absolutely central to understanding the proper interpretation of Daniel 11:40.  In fact, H8175 is written exactly the same way (i.e. it’s a homograph) as the word for porter H8179 and one of its relatives H8176.  And bringing us full circle back to the color red, another Hebrew word for whirlwind is H5492 which is also used in reference to the Red Sea (Numbers 21:14). This is apparently due to its association with H5488 which also means ‘red’ and is used many times in reference to the Red Sea.  I discuss the importance of the whirlwind in my three part article “Daniel 11:36-45: Faulty Forecast, Future Finale or Focal Flip“.
  • Jacob the Worm – In the context of the famous prophecy regarding the rise of Cyrus (i.e. the Sun) coming from the North and the East (Isaiah 41:2,5) like a whirlwind (Isaiah 40:24 cf. 41:16; 40:4-5) to deliver Israel from the Babylonian captivity, Israel/Jacob is referred to as a worm [towlaH8438] (Isaiah 41:14).  But this is no ordinary worm.  This is specifically coccus ilicus.  Also known as the “Crimson Worm”, the  dead bodies of these organisms were used commercially in ancient times primarily in the production of red dye.  This worm also appears in many other messianic contexts which I hope to expound on in future posts.  It also has some uncanny self-sacrificial reproductive behavior that very well may be designed to hint at the sacrifice of Christ.
  • The Red Heifer – in the Levitical Law, a spotless red heifer was to be killed and burned outside the camp of Israel.  Among the other things to be burned with the heifer was scarlet wool.  These ashes were to be mixed with fresh water to produce the water of cleansing.  This water was used to cleanse people, tents and furnishings that had been in contact with a corpse.  It was also used to purify the Levites prior to service in the Tabernacle.  As part of the ceremony for creating the water of cleansing, the blood of the heifer was to be sprinkled seven times before the Tabernacle (Numbers 8:7; 19; Hebrews 9:13).  It’s easy to see how this heifer may have been a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ necessary for cleansing his spiritual temple.

Octavia and Pythagoras

Returning to Nero and his connections with the Octavii Rufi, he himself was married to Octavia, his step-sister, whom he later had banished and murdered.  Ironically, Nero died on the anniversary of her death suggesting their unity in destruction [6].  But not before he entered into a same-sex marriage by becoming the wife to a freedman named Pythagoras [7][8] (though Suetonius claims the husband in this wedding was Doryphorus [9]).  Compare this to the unnatural and confused relations between the Harlot of Babylon, the ten kings of the earth, and the eighth king-beast  (Revelation 17:2,12-13,17).

Pythagoras is the same name as the Greek man famous even in antiquity for his alleged contributions to music (the Pythagorean tuning scheme for the sequences of seven natural notes, separated by octaves) [10] and the Pythagorean Theorem of geometry concerning right triangles.  Nero’s close historical association with a Pythagoras and significant numbers like seven, eight and 666 cannot be merely a coincidence.  Consider the following observations.

Though the actual authentic history surrounding the more famous Pythagoras is uncertain, he was no doubt famous in the ancient world for the accomplishments mentioned above.  Ancient writers such as Diogenes, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Plato, Socrates and Aristotle all wrote in detail about him.  He is also credited with the founding of the Pythagorean cult which was still flourishing, even around the time Revelation was written.  Pythagoras and his followers were keenly interested in numbers and attached mystical meanings to them.  Of the several numbers they considered special, 10 was the number they honored most.  10 was considered the perfect number.  They actually worshiped it and swore oaths by it.  They even had a special symbol for it called the Tetractys.  This was a triangle formed of 10 points, organized into four rows, each containing one more point than the previous row.  10 was therefore special because it is a triangular number formed from a base of 4 (i.e. half of eight).

Scripturally, eight and ten are also connected via the 10 kings associated with the eighth king (Revelation 17:3,7,12,16).  Like these 10 kings, the followers of Pythagoras honored the number 10 by never arranging themselves at gatherings in groups larger than 10 [11][12].  It is probably no coincidence either that the Hebrew words for 10 [H6235, H6236, H6237, H6240, H6241, H4643, H6218, H6224] are homophones for Asher [H836], the eighth son of Jacob.  There is also a parallel between the Tetractys of Pythagoras and the number 666.  Just as 10 is the triangular of 4 and was a divine symbol bestowed as a gift to the followers of Pythagoras, 666 is the triangular of 36 or 6 squared and was used to mark the followers of the beast [13].  In light of all these observations, it’s not surprising that 666 would also apply to Nero on account of the gemetrial value of his name.

The eighth king and 666 are also linked in that they both require a mind with wisdom to interpret (Revelation 13:18; 17:9-11).  Ancient tradition actually credits Pythagoras with being the first to coin the term philosopher from the Greek words philo (“love”) and sophia (“wisdom”) and apply it to himself [14].  Pythagoras considered education to be the prime trait distinguishing man from beasts.  So much so that he recalled an Olympiad where there were only seven men in an entire city who excelled in racing and only seven in the whole habitable world that excelled in wisdom [15].  Compare this to the seven heads supported by the eighth king of Revelation 17.

Also, like Octavius/Augustus (see below), Pythagoras was supposedly divine, being the son of the god Apollo [cf. G622, G625] born in Sidon of Phonecia (though he also claimed that he was the son of the god Hermes in a former life [16][17][18][19]).  Among other messianic associations, Apollo was literally the god of the Sun.  This is also evident in the Greek word Apollonia [G624] which derives from the Sun.  This is parallel to biblical messianic and anti-messianic figures like Cyrus (i.e. the Sun), the “Morning Star” king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:12), Samson (i.e. the Sun), Solomon (educated under the Sun), and the Messiah Himself (Revelation 2:28; 22:16).  A thinly veiled allusion to Apollo is made in Revelation 9:11 via Apollyon [G623], the angel of the Abyss from where the eighth king beast emerged (Revelation 11:7; 17:8).

Pythagoras was destined to be a messianic figure who could even calm storms on seas and rivers [20][21].  Compare to the actions of Christ on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25).  He even used an interesting analogy between justice and his famous formula regarding right triangles for restraining men from injustice against one another so as not to be judged in Hades for crimes like murder [22].  He was trained in the mysteries of the prophets of the cities of Tyre and Byblos and soon after learning these mysteries, he left for Egypt to seek out their true origins from under Mount Carmel [23].  Compare this to Jezebel, the queen from Sidon (sister city to Tyre) and Elijah who defeated her prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18).  Compare also the oracles regarding the kings of Tyre and Babylon and their association with Satan (see my article “Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Bablyon“).

Also, interestingly, Pythagoras [Πῡθαγόρᾱς] is very visibly a combination of the words for Python [G4436 – Πυθώ] combined with agora [G58 – ἀγορά].  In Greek mythology, Python was a dragon or serpent who guarded the center of the planet where he gave oracles in his mother Gaia’s name [γέα, γαῖα cf. G1093 – “land”].  Python was eventually slain by Apollo who, we can recall from above, was supposedly the father of Pythagoras.  The Greek agora means ‘assembly’ or ‘marketplace’.

So, in the name Pythagoras, we have an obvious allusion to an “assembly of the serpent”.  Suspiciously, the book of Revelation opens with two such references to a Synagogue [G4864 – assembly] of Satan (Revelation 2:9; 3:9).    In fact, the Romans actually built a pavement at Delphi where the Temple of Apollo Pythios was located, at the very place the Greeks believed to be the center of the planet.  It was also the exact spot Apollo was thought to have slain Python.  Ironically, the Romans named this pavement the Agora.  In connection to agora in the sense of a ‘marketplace’, compare to the merchants mentioned after the fall of Babylon (Revelation 18:3,11,15,23).

In an alternate version of the story of Apollo and Python, Hera, the goddess of women, actually sent Python to pursue Leto, the mother of Apollo and his twin Artemis.  When Apollo was grown, he sought vengeance against Python for his mother  [24]. Compare to the actions of the dragon and the earth in Revelation 12:3-4,13-17.  Also, see the parallels with the twin sons of Isaac – Esau/Edom and Jacob/Israel (Genesis 25:22-26).

Just as Python’s residence was in Delphi at the center of the earth, Jerusalem was also scripturally viewed as being at the center of the earth (Ezekiel 5:5; 38:12 NIV).  Further, the Medes, the conquerors of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:11,28; Daniel 5:30-31; Acts 2:8-9; Revelation 14:8; 18:1-2) were by their very name also representative of a central land [H4074].  Interestingly, in the middle seven sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5), one of the eight people left to repopulate the planet after the flood, these Medes are lumped with Javan (father of the Greeks) and Tubal (cf. Tubal-Cain in the eighth generation of Adam through Cain) and they are all preceded by Magog (Ezekiel 38:2; 39:6; Revelation 20:8).  The heart [G2588] of the earth was also the destination of Jesus after His crucifixion (Matthew 12:40).

In connection with the number eight, Pythagoras conceptually divided man’s typical eighty year lifespan into 20 year quarters corresponding to the four seasons [25].  Pythagoras himself died when he was eighty [26].  Compare this to the token seventy year lifespan of a king from Isaiah 23:15 in association with Tyre, a prostitute and the multi-headed serpent Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1; Psalm 74:14). Compare also to the seventy or eighty year range attributed to the endurance of human strength in the context of the metaphorical equivalence of a day to 1,000 years in God’s sight (Psalm 90:4,10).  Pythagoras also ordered that sacrifices to Hercules be made on the eighth day of the month and his birth should be celebrated in the seventh month [27].  Hercules and Apollo have a dynamic history with one another.

Judging by the above observations, these numbers surrounding the eighth king and the events of the historical Nero must carry a tremendous symbolic significance.  This strengthens the case that God intended for ancient readers of Revelation to detect Nero’s relationship to the red dragon, numbers and particularly, his lineage from the Octavii.

A Savior of Rome

A brief glimpse into the history of Octavius/Augustus makes it obvious why his mention in conjunction with the birth of the Son of God is far from accidental.  Gauis Octavius was very much viewed as a savior and ushered in an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity for Rome.  In many ways, Octavius was a self-glorified, false messiah and rival to the true God and His Christ.

After being adopted by Julius Caesar, his great-uncle, Gaius Octavius changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar.  Later, he personally added the title “Divi Filius” (i.e. “Son of the Divine”) to his name after the deceased Julius had been elevated to the status of a god.  After his defeat of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Actium, Octavius became emperor.  He was declared princeps or “first citizen” (cf. Christ in Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:29; Revelation 1:5).  In 27 BC., the same year Egypt was annexed to Rome becoming his own personal property against custom (Daniel 11:42), Octavius was also granted the additional title Augustus [G828] by the Senate. The Pax Augusta [28] aka the Pax Romana (i.e. “Roman Peace”)  is attributed to Augustus.  Augustus himself signified this unprecedented period of peace by closing the gates of Janus on three different occasions [29].  Augustus is also credited with having established the Augustan Settlement which was a massive acquisition of territory for Rome.

This is only a taste of the anti-messianic character of Augustus Caesar.  Readers are encouraged to consult the history of Augustus for more detailed information.

Conclusion

What we’ve just witnessed is that, once again, the number eight is demonstrated to have deep meaning in Scripture as it relates to fulfilled scriptural prophecy.  The eighth king of Revelation 17 is no exception to this rule.  In line with the evidence I’ve presented elsewhere, the eighth king is the symbol of a new cycle of earthly rulers.  They are not Roman entities.  For there to be a new cycle, an old cycle must have come before it.  And we see that this old cycle was demarcated in a similar fashion as in Revelation 17.  The old cycle (the Roman-cycle) was a transition from the Greco-Syrian cycle.   The Roman-cycle began with Augustus Caesar, whose ancestry was littered with unmistakable allusions to the number eight and the color red.  His annexing of Egypt to the Roman empire was the signal that the Greek empire had finally been destroyed as viewed from Scripture.  The power and dominion had shifted from Greece to Rome.  That power shift was to a king with innate associations with both the number eight and the color red.  He was also linked to being hairy in accordance with the shaggy-he goat of Daniel 8 which had represented Greece.  All of this symbolism aligns well with other messianic and anti-messianic figures like Adam, Esau/Edom, David, Jacob, Mordecai, Obed-Edom, Antiochus Epiphanes, Nero Caesar, Pythagoras, Python and Satan.  We see these motifs reflected elsewhere in Revelation as well.  Thus, the eighth king of Revelation 17 also represents at least one new cycle of non-Roman kings who would rise and continue to rule beyond 70 A.D.

Yet, the text of Revelation tells us that even these kings are destined for destruction.  In a future post, we’ll investigate just what it means for the these kings to be destroyed.


References

  1. Gurney, Robert J.M. (1980). “God in Control” Chapter 7, pp. 9-10,12,16 [Adobe PDF version].  Retrieved from biblicalstudies.org.uk
  2. Chase, George Davis (1897). “The Origin of Roman Praenomina”, in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. VIII, pp. 131,151
  3. Frost, Samuel (2018). “Daniel Unplugged” [Kindle version]. Retrieved from amazon.com
  4. Photius, Excerpt of Ctesias’ “Persica”: 72.47
  5. Suetonius, “Lives of the Twelve Caesars”: 2.1
  6. Phillipson, J. (2013). C.P. Cavafy “Historical Poems: A Verse Translation with Commentaries” p. 489
  7. Tacitus, “Annals”: 15.37
  8. Dio Cassius, “Roman History”: 62.28; 63.22
  9. Suetonius, “Lives of the Twelve Caesars”: 6.29
  10. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 26.116-121
  11. Joost-Gaugier, Christiane L. (2006), “Measuring Heaven: Pythagoras and his Influence on Thought and Art in Antiquity and the Middle Ages”, p. 161
  12. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 21.98
  13. Chilton, David (1987) “The Days of Vengeance”, pp. 346-352
  14. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 8.44
  15. Ibid. 8.44
  16. Cicero, “Tusculan Disputations”: 5.3.8–9
  17. Diogenes Laërtius, “Lives of Eminent Philosophers: Pythagoras”: 1.12, 8.1.41, 8.8
  18. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 2.5-8
  19. Diogenes Laërtius, “Lives of Eminent Philosophers: Pythagoras”: 8.1.4-5
  20. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 1.1; 2.5-9
  21. Porphyry, “The Life of Pythagoras”: 2,27-29
  22. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 30.179
  23. Ibid. 3.14
  24. Hyginus, “Fabulae”: 140
  25. Diogenes Laërtius, “Lives of Eminent Philosophers: Pythagoras”: 8.1.10
  26. Ibid. 8.1.44
  27. Iamblichus, “Life of Pythagoras”: 28.152
  28. “Res Gestae Divi Augusti”: 12
  29. Ibid. 13


It’s generally accepted that the number 8 is a biblical symbol of rebirth and resurrection.  It is also the indication of the start of a new cycle in a repeating pattern.  This post is a summary of my understanding of how we can demonstrate that right from the pages of Scripture.  We will see that having an understanding of the biblical significance of the  number 8 is vital in determining the meaning of certain eschatological passages.  In particular, the Beast/8th King of Revelation 17.

When we see this number, it indicates that a cycle is beginning to repeat itself or even references the cyclic pattern itself.

Like the number 7, the number 8 is ubiquitous in Scripture.  We will not take an exhaustive look at all of its occurrences as this would require a great deal of space.  Yet, there are a few very dramatic occurrences that make it quite clear what the number 8 means.  Other passages exist which can confirm this even further.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Insanity and Restoration

The rebirth aspect of the number 8 is most clearly seen in Daniel 4 where Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom is restored to him exactly 8 years after his downfall was predicted.  Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was told of this downfall exactly 1 year (12 months) before it took place (Daniel 4:29,32).  Then, for a 7 full years he went insane (Daniel 4:16,23,25,32).  It was only by the providence of God that his kingdom withstood his madness.  God told him that his stump would be preserved with bronze and iron (Daniel 4:15).  And it was.  And then it was restored after he humbled himself (Daniel 4:34-37; 5:18-23).  But, this preservation was short lived as the kingdom suffered a more spectacular and complete fall in Daniel 5 under the leadership of Belshazzar (Daniel 5:30) because he would not humble himself as his father Nebuchadnezzar had.

4th Beast of Daniel 7

Yet, even that wasn’t the end of Babylon.  After a period of peace and restoration under Medo-Persia, its “spirit” rose again in the form of Greece and the Greco-Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  Antiochus was symbolically an 8th king in Daniel 7.  He was literally the 11th horn but he had uprooted 3 horns before it (Daniel 7:8).  That Antiochus is the Little Horn of Daniel 7 is contested by many conservative scholars, but I feel it can be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that this identity is correct. A demonstration of this can be found here.

Like Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, this 4th Beast is associated with bronze and iron.  The 4th Beast had teeth of iron and claws of bronze (Daniel 7:7,19).  As argued here with an exhaustive, scriptural look at the Messianic significance of bronze and iron when used together in isolation from other metals, this signifies that the teeth and claws were parts of the Beast that were preserved and not destroyed along with its body (Daniel 7:11).  They would remain along with the previous 3 still living yet disenfranchised beasts (Daniel 7:12).  The teeth and claws, symbolizing the head and feet (i.e. generally thought to represent thoughts and deeds), were awaiting a day when their body (i.e. earthly authority) would be restored.  Compare to the exchange of power described in Revelation 17:13,17.

The 8th Generation of Adam Through Cain

Another significant occurrence of 8 in conjunction with bronze and iron is in Genesis 4.  Here we find the account of the 8th and final recorded generation of Adam through Cain.  Cain’s line is of course a line laden with sin.

Tubal-Cain, the third son of Lamech, was a member of this 8th generation.  He was a worker of iron and bronze.

The implied 8 and reference to bronze and iron here suggests the repeating cycle with which Cain’s bloodline would be characterized by dreadful sin.

If attributing messianic significance to Lamech’s children sounds like wild speculation, consider the following:

  • Cain is  associated with 7-fold vengeance (Genesis 4:15)
  • Lamech boasts of his 77-fold self-vengeance (Genesis 4:24)
  • Lamech is also the 7th descendant of Adam through Cain [Note: the New Testament writers noticed that the Enoch of Seth’s line was 7th from Adam (Jude 1:14).  The Lamech of Cain’s line is in the same position sequentially from Adam]
  • Tubal-Cain’s brothers Jabal [H2989] and Jubal [H3016] (Genesis 4:21) are related to the word for Jubilee [H3104].  The year of Jubliee was the year after a 7-fold period of 7-year periods. (i.e. 49 years).  Likewise, the Feast of Weeks was celebrated on the day following a 7-fold period of 7-weeks, the 50th day.  Pentecost [G4005], the New Testament term for the Feast of Weeks, comes from the Greek word for 50.  Like the year of Jubilee, the day following this period  is significant because it’s the start of the 8th period in both cases.  The cycles of 7 are in each case and beginning to repeat.

Other observations pertaining to the line of Cain are made here.

Conclusion

Here, we’ve seen three separate occurrences of the number 8 in conjunction with bronze and iron in isolation from mentions of other possible metals.  These are just a few of these biblical cases where 8 is used with obvious messianic significance.  In each case discussed here, there are references or allusions to the crushing and subsequent restoration of the enemies of God and his people.  Therefore, its reasonable to see the scriptural use of the number 8 as a credible symbol which indicates a repeating cycle of death and rebirth.

The Second Death and the 1,000 Years: An Introduction to Apeiro-Millennialism

Like many, many folks throughout the centuries, I have struggled with gaining an understanding of these two difficult biblical subjects. There are many theories in existence about the nature of these two entities. No theory is without its faults and believers in each of them are not shy about pointing out the faults with the others. As a result of significant issues I see with the three mainstream views on the millennium of Revelation 20 (i.e. pre-, post- and amillennialism), I believe there is yet another view with which those who hold strong opinions on these subjects can now find (hopefully fewer) faults. That view is one I’ve come to refer to as apeiro-millennialism. This post is a summary of that view.

This is only an overview of what seems to me to be the best understanding possible for these two scriptural entities. I’m simply sharing my understanding and preliminary evidence for it. Future posts are planned where we will have occasion to explore further evidence for my understanding. I do not critique other views here. I only present my own.

The 1,000 Years

I believe the 1,000 year period mentioned in the context of Revelation 20 is eternity future. The number 1,000 can be a symbolic, scriptural way of saying “all possible“. Just as it is in the passage where God says “for every animal in the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). The reference here is not to a literal 1,000 hills but rather all possible hills where cattle (or the singular Behemoth) may be found. Likewise, God is described as remembering “his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations” (1 Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 105:8 cf. Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10; 7:9). I believe the number one thousand is used in the same sense in Revelation 20.

That is, if time will always exist, then 1,000 years (i.e. “all possible” years) would literally mean a period which lasts forever.  This is consistent with passages that describe Christ’s reign as being eternal (Luke 1:32-34; Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 89:3-4; Isaiah 9:7; Ezekiel 37:24-25 cf. Revelation 20:4,6; 22:5).  Even the reign of the saints who accompany Christ is said to be eternal (Revelation 22:5 cf. Revelation 20:4).  This is all reflected in the name apeiro-millennialism.  This term is based on the Greek ápeiros [ἄπειρος] which means “infinite” or “boundless”.  Other English words like apeirophobia and apeirohedron likewise use this prefix to represent their infinite nature.

I believe that’s the nature of:

  • the reign of Christ and His saints in Revelation 20:4,
  • the period of time that those who worship the beast in Revelation 20:5 (i.e. “the rest of the dead”) would be prevented from coming to life of the same quality as those who participated in the 1st resurrection
  • Satan’s detention of Revelation 20:2-3

This understanding may seem like an impossibility due to the short release of Satan from his prison mentioned in Revelation 20:7-8 and the Gog-Magog war supposedly following it.  However, there is substantial evidence  that these statements are sarcastic and recapitulatory to quickly regress the narrative from the future, to the present and ultimately back to the immediate past.  This regression has the effect of putting a sudden and blunt emphasis on the sarcasm being employed.  In the view I’m describing here, this war had already happened in the previous chapter and is only mentioned to remind us of why Satan would never be released.  This release, though stated, will never occur. It’s only a tongue-in-cheek statement meant as an aggravating battle taunt of the victorious. A dramatic glimmer of hope dangled before the enemy only for the purpose of being able to dash that hope again, dragging out his humiliation and offering an occasion to remind him of his formerly mentioned defeat. A tactic with which Satan would be familiar, ironically turned against him (Hebrews 11:25).  Satan made a career out of promising pleasure in sin that deceptively only lasted a short time.  In like fashion, his just punishment is being released for only a short time.

This is the perspective that is missing from most interpretations of these passages. This chapter is typically approached as if its sole purpose is to communicate clear facts about the future, directly to us, the readers. However, if it’s viewed in the context of Revelation 19:11-21 where Satan is rendered completely ineffective by having his earthly agents destroyed in battle much like the outcome of the Gog-Magog war, such a purpose seems illogical. The speech in Revelation 20 would more naturally be expected to have the tone of a victor. As victors are known to do, they may taunt their captives with ridicule, misleading offers of comfort and relief, and turn their own tactics and efforts to deceive and subvert ironically around on them.

This is not beneath the motives of victors of righteousness. Consider the language applied to Babylon in Psalm 137:3,8-9.   In the context of Revelation 20, Babylon had just fallen two chapters earlier and she is told that she would be paid back in exactly the manner in which she had sought to destroy the righteous (Revelation 18:6-7,20).  A future taunt of exactly this sort was even predicted with an allusion to Satan, the puppet-master of Babylon, in Isaiah 14:4.  One could certainly envision a captor in these circumstances taunting those that had been bound nearby as they overhear him telling his fellow victors that orders had been received from those in command that the captives should be freed.  Devices such as outright boasting and mocking or temporarily posing as shocked and distraught over the staged “news” of the release of their prisoners may be employed to agitate or foster false hope in this regard.  Each of these tones seems to be represented in portions of Revelation 20.

In any case, the sarcasm concerning the release of Satan after the thousand years is expressed exactly like our modern expression “when pigs fly, such-and-such will happen”. The expression is not meant to indicate that pigs will eventually fly and that such-and-such will literally happen after that. Rather, the intent is to say that such-and-such will never occur because pigs are never expected to fly. If a thousand years in this context is really infinitely long in duration, then the release of Satan for a “short time”, by comparison, may be infinitely short so as to never happen at all.

The events concerning Gog and Magog, etc. are actually restatements of what happens in Revelation 19:11-21 and are mentioned to make it clear at this point that the promises just made must be sarcastic.  It’s because Satan had already been defeated. The very bizarre, regressive use of future, present and past tenses in those relatively few verses concerning the battle of Gog and Magog demonstrate this shift from Satan’s imagined future to his then past defeat:

  • Future: Satan will be released and will come out to deceive
  • Present: the nations that are at the four corners of the earth; their number is like the sand of the sea
  • Past: they marched and surrounded; fire came down and consumed the devil who had deceived and was thrown into the lake of fire

If there was any doubt as to whether their captors were being serious or not, at this point, it is now clear to the prisoners that they were being played.  Having drawn the taunt to a close, verse 11 picks up where chapter 19 left off by beginning to explain events that happen afterward at some indeterminate point within this eternal reign of Christ.

The coming to life of “the rest of the dead” after the 1,000 years were over in verse 5 may also seem problematic for this view.   However, when taken in context, this event is actually further evidence that the 1,000 years has no end.  The “rest of the dead” are clearly worshipers of the beast. Verse 4 tells us it was those who did not worship the beast that came to life before the 1,000 years were ended. This means “the rest of the dead” were all people who were worshipers of the beast.  These wicked people have every appearance of coming to life that is of the same quality as those in the first resurrection, it’s just delayed for them by 1,000 years. This is clear because this raising to life of the wicked is sandwiched as a  parenthetical statement between verses 4 and 6 which both speak of the life that is inherited by the participants in the first resurrection.  When do the wicked worshipers of the beast ever come to this sort of life? Unless one is a universalist, this never happens.

The New Jerusalem

The previously mentioned interpretation of this 1,000 years is consistent with the application of 1,000 used in the dimensions of the New Jerusalem in the following chapter. Both hinge on the symbolism embodied in the number 1,000. To keep this post fairly brief, I’d like to save some of my exposition on the number 1,000 for a later post. However, discussing the New Jerusalem here will present a nice transition point into the summary of my view on the 2nd Death later.

The 12 x 1,000 stadia cube that represents the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16) symbolizes that it expands a distance of “all possible” units in each of the given directions. That is, its volume expands infinitely. The other measurements of this city are called out as being in units man would use (Revelation 21:17). That is, they were not symbolizing purely spiritual things. They measured something physical. Therefore, I believe what’s represented here is the New Jerusalem filling the physical universe. The physical universe is being recreated.

Having the distance in each direction being multiplied by 12 magnifies the level of symbolism here. Just as there are twelve lunar cycles in a solar year, the twelve here highlights that no portion of this new creation would lack the radiance of the new Sun [i.e. God and His Messiah] (Isaiah 19:18; 30:26; 41:25; 45:6; 55:19; 58:8-10; 60:19-20; Malachi 4:2; Luke 1:78; 23:45; Revelation 12:1; 21:23; 22:5,16). This is important as this depiction parallels the Lake of Fire.

The 2nd Death

In this view of the New Jerusalem, the 2nd Death/Lake of Fire being outside this city (Revelation 14:20; 19:15,20; 21:8; 22:14-15) is thus representative of exclusion from the remade physical universe. The devil, the beast and the false prophet who end up in it are described as being tormented in the presence of God and His holy angels “forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). Compare to Revelation 22:5 where the burning sun is replaced by God and He and His blazing servants will reign “forever and ever“. This figurative language suggests that the efforts of those who would bring corruption into our physical existence will be rendered completely ineffective by Christ and his servants … literally … permanently … forever. This is consistent with my understanding of the destruction of the 8th king of Revelation 17 and his permanent replacement by the Queen of ‘Seven’ from the Sign of Jonah.

I see this Lake of Fire being symbolically comprised of Christ and Christians themselves. That’s not to say that the New Jerusalem can’t be comprised of Christians too. That the two are really the same demonstrates the main point here. It’s impossible to be anywhere but inside the city as it’s consumed all available space! The statement that evildoers would be outside the city is again an exaggerated, non-literal description of a location that does not exist. As the New Jerusalem has filled all the space there is, it’s impossible to be literally outside of it, even though the text describes it that way. This aspect of the new creation is even seen in the lack of any place for heaven and earth to hide from God (Revelation 20:11). They fled from His presence but couldn’t escape it. He was everywhere. It’s after this in chapter 21 we see the New Heaven and New Earth filling the void left by the old ones.

Therefore, the Lake of Fire is revealed as an alternate view of the New Jerusalem. This is consistent with the biblical depictions of God and His armies as consuming fires. This also fits the description of the New Jerusalem being ablaze with the Sun-like glory of God.

Further, if the above interpretation is correct, the 2nd Death is a very appropriate name for this Lake of Fire. We’ll now explore why.

A Dual Death

In the view above, this Lake of Fire (being the New Jerusalem) is the physical universe. In this universe, the inhabitants will have swallowed up death in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54; Isaiah 25:8 cf. Revelation 21:4).

It’s reasonable to ask, which death did they swallow? Several types of death exist (at least in the metaphorical sense). One victim would be non-physical death, for sure. But it’s hard to see a convincing explanation as to why the agent of non-physical death would be given the title of “2nd Death”. The lost are already dead in some sense (Isaiah 25:7-8; John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1,5; 4:17-18; Colossians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 3:6-8,12-16; 1 John 3:14). This would seem to be the First Death. Then they die physically. That would be the Second Death. The death following physical death would then more properly be called the Third Death, not the Second Death. Yet, John calls this Death the second. Some might argue that there is really only one kind of death and that is physical death. Any other kind of death before the final judgment must be used metaphorically and is therefore not a legitimate kind of death. This would make physical death the First Death and further punishment after our initial physical death would be the Second Death. However, the available evidence does not support this very well. Further, whether non-physical death currently exists apart from metaphor is actually irrelevant to the point. Even the Second Death is likely used symbolically. This means even metaphorical death is a viable candidate for one of the “deaths” that the Second Death is being positioned against.

Rather, it seems quite natural to me that the ultimate death that was swallowed up in victory was the 2nd death implied in God’s statement to Adam, “in that day you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17 cf. Genesis 3:4). In a limited sense, Adam died the very day he ate of the forbidden tree, just as God said. This was signified by his becoming aware of good and evil, being sentenced to difficult toil to bring forth produce from the earth, having feelings of shame, being covered with the skins of sacrificial animals and being prevented access to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24). The only consequence included in the warning given to Adam and Eve was death, therefore, any consequence of disregarding this prohibition can be expected to constitute some form of death. Some of these consequences likely took place the very 24-hour day that Adam ate of the forbidden tree.

But, interestingly, words rooted in death (H4191muwth) occur here twice in immediate succession in the Hebrew. On its own, that may not seem like it would be that significant as this structure forms a common Hebrew expression often translated as “surely die”. However, other considerations make it very clear that this is hardly an insignificant little detail. These verses where both God and the Serpent use the phrase “surely die” have the same words rooted in death doubled-up like this. However, in the same context, when Eve inaccurately repeats what God said, she conspicuously uses it singularly (Genesis 3:3). This suggests that the phrasing with the dual reference to “muwth” in God’s original language was somehow key to the statement being entirely accurate.

It’s also suspicious that, while ‘muwth‘ occurs singularly in many other contexts in Genesis, the only other places in Genesis that it occurs doubly like this is in two separate accounts involving Abimelek, the Philistine king of Gerar.

The first occurrence is in chapter 20 of Genesis. Notice some significant parallels between this account of Abimelek and the subject matter of the fall of man:

These passages are clearly alluding to consequences of the fall.

Abimelek is an interesting character in and of himself. He pops up again in the next chapter where he makes a treaty with Abraham at Beersheba (i.e. 7 wells aka 7 sisters), an eschatologically significant place as I demonstrate in several other blog posts.

The second account of Abimelek containing this doubled-up reference to ‘muwth‘ is Genesis 26:11, a few chapters later. This time, it’s in reference to Isaac and Rebekah. Oddly, the account sounds very much like an abbreviated version of the account of Abimelek, Abraham and Sarah from above as it has most of the same parallels listed – including the 7 wells of Beersheba! An interesting difference is that immediately after this verse, the number 100 occurs (i.e. another power of 10) instead of 1,000. Other than the seven implied in Beersheba, this 100 is the only number mentioned in this particular account of Abimelek.  It is therefore quite significant that it’s a parallel to the power of ten from the previous account of Abimelek.

Stranger still, yet another man named Abimelek shows up in Judges 8:31 with definite eschatological connections of his own. I’ll not go into the details here but some key points to notice are these from chapter 9:

  • he is repeatedly associated with the number 7 (the murder of his 70 brothers, he paid his followers 70 shekels, his father Gideon was the 7th judge)
  • he killed 1,000 people in the tower of Shechem (Judges 9:49)
  • he died after a woman in the tower crushed his skull with an upper millstone (Judges 9:53 cf. the fate of the Serpent in Genesis 3:15)

It seems clear that God repeats these thematic elements of the fall in connection to dual references to death as a way of emphasizing in a subtle but detectable manner that there is an intentional aspect of duality in Adam’s death and it has great eschatological significance.  This element of duality is evidenced in other interesting ways later in Scripture as it concerns the “Day of the Lord” judgement events of which, the death of Adam was the very first prefigurement.

A Dual Day

Further, as is demonstrably the case with many other narrative statements of God, His warning here was a play on words.  There were two perspectives from which these statements were intended to be understood.  They contained a reference to a second day. A day as measured by God (figuratively). A day that was 1,000 man-years long (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). The day within which Adam and all the pre-flood descendants of him through Seth ceased to live biologically. Some patriarchs came really close to a 1,000 year lifespan but they never quite made it. They all failed.

In fact, several reached ages that were prophetically significant in the number in which they fell short of 1,000 years (e.g. Adam, Enoch and Jared). Adam in particular died at the age 930 years (Genesis 5:5). This is true in all available manuscripts of Genesis. The Masoretic Text, Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch disagree on the milestone ages of several of Adam’s pre-flood descendants but in the case of Adam’s death, they all agree. The target age he was approaching is not specified explicitly but it’s a fairly obvious observation that this age is only 70 years short of 1,000. Given the messianic significance of multiples of seven, this difference seems unlikely to be coincidence and is probably meant as an indication that Adam’s target lifespan was 1,000 years.

We also have very powerful and direct evidence of this beyond simple inference. The ancient witness of the Book of Jubilees actually attests to this understanding. Jubilees is a non-authoritative but well-known Jewish writing dating from at least 100 B.C. and recent scholars date it as early as 165-160 B.C. Jubilees 4:39-40 tells us outright that Adam’s life fell 70 years short of 1,000 years and says that “he did not complete the years of this day” because of his disobedience to God regarding eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I believe all the patriarchs were actually intended to live beyond this 1,000 years. Forever in fact. But, prophetically speaking, 1,000 was simply a limit that God placed on man’s dominion on the earth to set the stage for symbolism that would later find its fulfillment in the 1,000 years of Revelation. Being a number of years representative of “forever”, this was a reflection of man’s lost immortality. Adam not only lost his immortality, he did not even succeed in living out a number of years symbolic of forever.

Christ on the other hand, as the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22,45; Romans 5:14; Luke 3:38), has and will continue to do what the first Adam and his descendants could not. Christ conquered physical death in His resurrection and reigned physically over a physical creation for 1,000 years … and will continue to do so forever.

Christ swallowed up physical death, the 2nd Death. He took its place. Like Him, His servants will also swallow up death. Including physical death. They will be united and stand together in the place of the original 2nd Death. They will become this Death, ironically fulfilling its former purpose in a new and reformed way.

More to come.

Finding Satan in the Kings of Tyre and Babylon

The charge is becoming more common among biblical scholars that passages like Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:13 cannot be used to support the existence and origin of Satan. To a large extent, I believe such criticism is justified. Most believers do tend to uncritically accept and perpetuate the arguments that these passages describe Satan as a fallen angel who formerly served as a guardian cherub of God. Yet, it should be obvious to anyone on a complete reading of these passages that the immediate reference is not at all to spiritual beings but to earthly men. Namely, the kings of Babylon and Tyre.

However, while I do share some of the sentiments of scholars, I personally am not so quick to dismiss the possibility of truth behind these common claims, despite the inability of their advocates to articulate why their beliefs are anything more than faulty presuppositions they’ve uncritically accepted.

Here, I describe why I believe that there is much more to these verses than meets the eye. I am convinced and feel it can be justified convincingly that these passages do in fact allude to an entity or concept that transcends the mere men in the immediate context. Whether that entity is a spirit being, fallen angel, the evil nature of man or something else is a different question and one I do not attempt to answer here.

My two main conclusions regarding the following evidences are simply these:

  1. These passages do each have secondary references
  2. Those secondary references have much to do with the concept of Satan, particularly the certainty of “his” end

The Typological Harlots and Serpents

It’s worth pointing out from the beginning that from God’s perspective, both Tyre and Babylon are cut from the same cloth.

First, they both have associations with harlots (Isaiah 23:15-17; Revelation 17:3-5). Not many cities are referred to as harlots in Scripture. The only other cities referred to as harlots are Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16) and Nineveh (Nahum 3:4,7), both of which have Messianic significance. For the end-times significance of Nineveh, see Matthew 12:41; Luke 11:32. These facts alone hint that there is eschatological significance to Tyre and Babylon. The eschatological significance of Babylon is established from the earliest chapters of Genesis and this significance is played on in many ways throughout the Bible. The most obvious reference of this type being the Great Prostitute in Revelation 17:1,5.

For the most explicit end-times applications of Tyre, see Zechariah 9:2-3; Matthew 11:21-22; Luke 10:13-14. Though, there are others of a more typological nature from the Old Testament. One of particular interest is found in Isaiah 23:15-18 where Tyre’s harlotry is mentioned.

Notice that here, Tyre would be forgotten for 70 years. At the end of those 70 years, she is instructed to take up a harp [H3658]. Tyre is also associated with the harp not far from our Ezekiel 28 passage in Ezekiel 26:13. Harps are connected with the Messianic number 8. I talk about these connections here. They also appear frequently in the book of Revelation (Revelation 5:8; 14:2; 15:2; 18:22). Tyre is also connected with harps via the Sea of Galilee (Mark 7:31-37; Matthew 15:21,29-31). It’s here where Jesus heals the deaf and mute and also feeds 4,000 people from 7 loaves of bread. The Old Testament name for the Sea of Galilee was the Sea of Chinneroth [H3672] due to its harp-like shape (Numbers 34:11; Deuteronomy 3:17; Joshua 12:3; 13:27). In the New Testament, a name of this sea is Gennesaret [G1082], also meaning ‘harp’ (Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53; Luke 5:1).   The Messianic significance of Galilee is all over the ministry of Jesus. That this was a fulfillment of end-times prophecy is clear from passages like Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 2:23; 4:13-15; 21:11; Luke 2:4; John 1:45-46.

Second, both Babylon and Tyre have prophetic associations with serpents.  Babylon is called a serpent in Isaiah 14:29; Jeremiah 51:34. The destruction of Tyre coincides with the destruction of the serpent Leviathan in Isaiah 27:1. This may not be immediately obvious, but the narrative regarding “the city” has been maintained since the city of Tyre was called a harlot in Isaiah 23:17. References to “the city” recur from this point through Isaiah 24:10,12,17; 25:2; 26:5; 27:10. In the midst of these verses, there is only a short diversion in chapter 26 to contrast the city of Tyre with God’s own strong city (Isaiah 26:1-4 cf. Isaiah 24:23; 25:6-7,10; 27:13) and describe its victory over the nation of Moab. In an ironic contrast to Tyre [H6865] (literally, “rock” cf. Isaiah 27:9; Ezekiel 26:4), Jerusalem and Mount Zion would be inhabited by God, the true Rock (Isaiah 26:4) (cf. to the “rock” who exalted itself as a god in Ezekiel 28:2,6,9).

The King of Tyre

One huge tip-off that the king of Tyre refers to more than an earthly king is found in the multitude of very specific gemstones adorning him. In the entire Bible, the gemstones mentioned in this passage on Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13 LXX) only occur in conjunction with one another in two other places:

Unlike the Masoretic Text, the LXX description of the king of Tyre also mentions the three gemstones found in the 3rd row of the High Priest’s breast plate: jacinth [λιγύριον], agate [ἀχάτην], amethyst [ἀμέθυστον].

These observations raise some serious questions about the limit of applicability of these passages in Ezekiel. Why would these 12 gemstones be so closely associated with entities that contrast so sharply with one another? It seems unlikely to be merely coincidence. Is this King of Tyre possibly a veiled and pejorative reference to the apostate Aaronic High Priest? And since the Aaronic priesthood was a representative of Israel before God and was also a subset of the Levites, could this language of the fate of the king of Tyre also be alluding to them in some way? Perhaps, the fate of their God-ordained function in His society?

If so, we don’t have to look too far before we also find a definite association of each of these entities with another end-times figure – Leviathan. The coiled, crowned and multi-headed sea monster.

The words for Levi [H3878,H3879] and Levite [H3881] all derive from the root word ‘lavah’ [H3867] meaning to join, cleave, borrow or lend. It applies almost exclusively to the language surrounding binding covenants, particularly those of marriage, treaties, and commerce. This root only occurs in 26 places throughout the Bible.

Leviathan [H3882] also derives directly from that same root word. Leviathan is mentioned 6 times in Scripture. Only 3 other words used in the Bible derive from this root word. They are H3880, H3814, and H3890. These words occur only 6 times in the entire Bible. That list is exhaustive of all the scriptural words that derive from the root ‘lavah’ [H3867]. The infrequency of these words should make their significance relatively easy to spot.

All of these words are prime fodder for word-plays, puns and dual references to one another. Existence of such word-plays seems especially likely considering the eschatological significance of:

So, following the hint provided by these gemstones, we find that this king of Tyre has uncanny connections to the eschatological defeat of Leviathan, the messianic destruction of the power of the Law of Moses the Levite and the foundation of a New Jerusalem from heaven. All these concepts have close associations with Satan and his downfall as well. The Law and Satan are accusers (John 5:45; Zechariah 3:1). Leviathan and Satan are both represented as serpents (Isaiah 27:1; Revelation 12:9; 20:2 ). And they all share the same fate at the hands (and perhaps more significantly, the feet) of the Messiah and his faithful servants (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 74:14; Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17; Galatians 3:10,13; 1 Corinthians 15:56-58; Romans 16:20; Revelation 12:10).

Another interesting eschatological connection with Tyre is the account of Herod in Acts 12:20-23. Here, after having been enemies, Herod warms up to the people of Tyre and Sidon after they begin shouting publicly that he has the voice of a god, not a man. It’s then that Herod is eaten by worms (see Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews”, Book 19, Chapter 8 for historical corroboration of the account). Compare this to the fate of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:2,6-10 and Babylon in Isaiah 14:11 (notice again the reference to harps here).  See also the general fate of the wicked in Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:47-48.

It’s also interesting to note where Tyre and Sidon became significant as enemies of Israel. This begins in Joshua 19:24-31 where Tyre and Sidon were part of the allotment given to the tribe of Asher in the Promised Land. Asher was the 8th son of Jacob. Notice also that Hammon (cf. Ezekiel 39:11,15-16 and Haman in the book of Esther) and particularly Abdon [H5658] (Joshua 19:28; 21:30;1 Chronicles 6:74) were also among these cities given to Asher. See the section ‘Abdon‘ under the ‘King of Babylon’ below for the further significance of Abdon.

Jezebel, a prophetically charged queen from the time of Elijah was also from Sidon (1 Kings 16:31). I discuss a good deal of the typology surrounding her here.

Also, in connection with the number 42 which I discuss later, we find that Jephthah, the 8th judge of Israel rose up in response to the worship being done to the gods of Sidon (Judges 10:5), the very same ones Jezebel was instituting in her time and whom Elijah defeated. Further, in Judges 1:31-32, we find that Asher was not actually successful in driving out the inhabitants of Sidon. The consequences for this are given in Numbers 33:50-51 cf. Numbers 14:11-12,22-38 (note the location – “the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho“)

The King of Babylon

The word translated Lucifer applied to the king of Babylon in the Latin Vulgate is actually Hillel [H1966 – הֵילֵל] in the Hebrew. The word only occurs here in Isaiah 14:12. It is thought to derive from halal [H1984 – הָלַל]. In contrast to the infrequency of Hillel, hahal occurs 165 times in the Bible. Often, it’s in the context of the brightness of the morning sunshine, boastfulness, praise of God for the defeat of his enemies, and in a few cases – it even means foolishness. There are too many occurrences to discuss any definite prophetic significance of this word in a practical manner. Though, the close association of this word with the sun make that a possibility that is definitely worth investigating.

However, another word that also derives from halal and is a near homograph for it is Hillel [H1985 – הִלֵּל]. Remember, we are dealing with Babylon/Babel here, so confusing language like that involved in word-plays and homographs like this probably has immense interpretive significance. This word only occurs twice in scripture. In both cases, it is the proper name of the father of Abdon (Judges 12:13,15).

The fact that this single word leads us back to the book of Judges is also no small coincidence. Judges is hugely messianic in nature. A detailed treatise on this subject is beyond this article’s scope. However, one highlight worth mentioning is the Messianic theme of crushing the heads of Israel’s enemies is common in the book (Judges 5:26; 8:28; 9:53). This theme has definite connections with the crushing of Satan and the head of the Serpent. Further, the book records 12 judges, the last of which is Samson [H8123]. The fact that Samson is 12th associates him with the Sun via the 12 cycles of the moon in a solar year. However, Samson also literally means “the Sun”. The Messiah is also closely associated with the Sun. I explain more about the messianic associations of Samson and the Sun here, yet even this does not do an exhaustive study. The judges were types foreshadowing the Messiah in various ways. The reference to Hillel and its association with the Sun in connection with both Abdon the judge and the king of Tyre is a strong eschatological link between these passages.

Abdon (from ‘The King of Tyre’ above)

Abdon [H5658] was an early judge raised up by God to lead and protect Israel. Like his successor Samson, these passages regarding Abdon and the context surrounding him are packed with eschatological types and allusions. That details surrounding the king of Babylon in Isaiah has led us here, seems even more like a connection deliberately placed with the expectation that we would follow the trail from Isaiah back to this section of Judges.

We aren’t told much at all about this man Abdon or his accomplishments, but what we can glean from his description definitely smacks of messianic significance. We’ve already discussed his father Hillel which is the observation that led us here in the first place. However, we also find that he has 70 noteworthy male family members, possibly all direct descendants. They rode on 70 donkeys (donkey’s also have connections with the Sun). He also led Israel 8 years. He died and was buried in Pirathon (Φρααθων LXX cf. Πυθώ – Python [G4436]) of Ephraim in the hills of the Amalekites. And that’s pretty much it. It seems more than a little strange that the most significant things about this man’s rule was not his accomplishments as judge. Rather, they were numbers that have undeniable eschatological significance elsewhere in Scripture. (I discuss many of these here, particularly the number 8).

Just prior to this account, we have the passing mention of Abdon’s predecessors Ibzan and Elon (Judges 12:8-12). Again, like the account of Abdon, just a few verses are dedicated to each of them. However, also like Abdon, they are packed with eschatological symbolism.

On either side of these men we have someone of great Messianic significance. Samson, whom we’ve already discussed. The 7th judge, preceding Jephthah was Gideon.

Ibzan

We are also told Ibzan judged Israel for 7 years. Further, Ibzan is twice associated with the Messianic town of Bethlehem (cf. Genesis 35:19; 48:7; Jeremiah 31:15; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:18). Compare this to the messianic King David – the 8th and youngest son of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:10-11; 17:12). It was David who replaced Saul. Likewise, it was Saul who was the king who replaced God’s providential judges. In these very verses pertaining to the anointing of David, we also find God sending a tormenting spirit on Saul. Saul is brought relief from this spirit by David playing the harp, an instrument with intimate connections with the eschatological number 8 as I mentioned above (1 Samuel 16:14-16).

Compare also to the less obvious but demonstrable messianic age prefigurements related to Bethlehem like:

Again, it appears the mention of Hillel in this context and that of Isaiah 14 is no coincidence.

Elon

Elon is barely mentioned but separates Ibzan from Abdon with a rule of 10 years. Elon was also the 10th judge mentioned in scripture. 10 is significant as a number of completeness and strength akin to 7 and 8. Also, like 7 and 8, it makes its first appearance in the early chapters of Genesis and a similar chiastic/symmetrical structure involving the 10 pre-flood and 10 post-flood generations. Noah was the 10th generation prior to the flood. It was through him that the world was reborn starting with 8 people (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5). Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the father of Samson, directly opposite Elon on the other side of Abdon was Manoah [H4495].  Noah [H5146] and Manoah both derive from H5117 meaning “rest”.

Jephthah

Lest we forget our point here, we need to remind ourselves that a word-play with Hillel/Lucifer of Isaiah 14:12 lead us to this prophetically charged section of Judges. While these are interesting observations for sure, how any of this connects Hillel to Satan is still not clear.

For that, we must backtrack to one more ruler in the line of judges – the 8th. This was Jephthah, the judge who takes on the task of ridding the land of the gods of Sidon whose stubborn persistence in Israel was mentioned in the opening chapter of the same book.  In Judges 12:6, we have the account of Jephthah and the Gileadites taking vengeance on 42,000 Ephraimites.

Just like the word-play on Hillel of Isaiah 14:12 (in the context of Babylon, the birthplace of confusing language) lead us to this area of Scripture, we find in this account of Jephthah an interesting play-on-words as well. The fate of the Emphraimites who survived Jephthah’s initial judgement was determined at a prophetic crossing point on the Jordan river. That fate came down to their ability to pronounce a single word to the satisfaction of the Gileadites.

Potential Ephraimites were asked to speak the word “Shibboleth” [H7641]. If they instead said “Sibboleth” [H5451], they were killed. This slight variation in pronunciations made the difference between judgement and salvation for 42,000 Ephraimites.

In the context of this double-talk, it’s probably no coincidence that Ephraim [H669], one of the two sons of Joseph adopted into Israel, literally means ‘double land’ or ‘twin land’. It may not be a coincidence that our other verses in question pertain to the dual cities Tyre and Sidon (Ezekiel 28:20-23). Ephraim also became a synonym for the northern kingdom of Israel after the kingdom and land of the Israelites had been divided in two (Ezekiel 37:15-17) each half being led by a man whose name played off of the other (Rehoboam [H7346] and Jeroboam [H3379] both rooted in H5971)) (1 Kings 14:30; 2 Chronicles 12:15). After all this, we are told Jephthah led Isreal for 6 years and his account ends.

That this account of Jephthah and the Ephraimites occurs in the midst of all of these other significant numbers and an obvious word-play is highly suspicious. In fact, we might wonder whether 42,000 has some eschatological significance as well. We soon find it undeniably does. The most obvious reference to most is probably the 2 witnesses of Revelation 11:2-3 and the reign of the Beast in Revelation 11:7; 13:5. Most preterist commentators recognize these witnesses as symbols of the Law of Moses and the Old Testament Prophets. I would agree with this identification and believe the context strongly supports it. This Beast, which is itself is described as an 8th king, later destroys the prostitute of Babylon (Revelation 17:1-5,16; 18:1-24;19:2-3) and is shortly there after destroyed itself (Revelation 17:8,11,13-14; 19:19-20).

However, I’ve never read a commentator that has recognized this number 42 as anything more than simply another way to speak of the 1,260 days or 3 1/2 year period for which these witnesses would prophesy. Yet, this association of 42 with the Law and the Prophets is established well before the book of Revelation. There are independent Old Testament connections between 42, the Law of Moses (via the Levites), the Prophets, and the oppressors of Israel – specifically, Jezebel of Sidon.

Forty-Two in the Old Testament

I addition to the 42 that occurs in connection with Jephthah, there are at least 5 additional occurrences that undoubtedly have messianic significance. We take a look at each of these in turn below.

The Law

In Numbers 35:6-33, there is an occurrence of 42 that points us in the direction of the Law, the Levites and the Aaronic High Priesthood. Here, we read about the cities that were to be given to the Levites by all of the other tribes of Israel. The Levites were to be given 6 towns to serve as cities of refuge. The purpose of these cities was for a peculiar system of justice regarding people awaiting trial for murder. The inhabitants of cities of refuge were obligated to provide protection to individuals in this circumstance who requested such protection. Specifically, the accused was to be protected from anyone who may be out to avenge the blood of the deceased (Numbers 35:25,32). Apparently, the only way this obligation could be dissolved was upon the death of the High Priest (Numbers 35:25,28). Also, as in Revelation 11:3, reference is made to the requirement that a person who kills another was to be put to death only on the testimony of more than one witness (Numbers 35:30)

However, in addition to these 6 towns, the Levites were also to be given 42 additional towns. These towns did not serve as cities of refuge and therefore did not offer such protection.

Aside from the Levites, the other Israelite tribes were to have 6 cities of refuge as well. They are divided symmetrically, 3 on each side of the Jordan river. Three were to be established before passing into the land of Canaan. The other three were to be established afterward when God had fulfilled his promise (Deuteronomy 4:41-43; 19:1-14; Joshua 20:1-9).

After this account, we have the resolution to a problem brought to the attention of Moses by Zelophehad’s daughters regarding their stake in the land and the Year of Jubilee (they had actually been involved in a similar situation earlier in Numbers 27 after the death of their father). With this latest problem resolved by God, the book of Numbers ends with “the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho” cf. Numbers 33:50-51 from the section “The King of Tyre” above)

The Prophets

In 2 Kings 2:24, we have the extremely brief and very bizarre account of Elisha being jeered by some young boys from Bethel. In the account, Elisha calls down a curse from heaven and 42 of the boys are mauled by 2 bears. (For the biblical significance of bears, see my comments here.) After this the account of Moab‘s revolt is recorded. At the opening of this event, we find that Joram, son of Ahab reigned for 12 years (compare to the twelves in the call of Elisha by Elijah recorded in 1 Kings 19:19-21).  This all happens shortly after:

  • Elisha and Elijah cross the Jordan river, watched by 50 (i.e. 7×7+1) prophets from Jericho
  • God finally breaks Elijah [H452 – אֵלִיָּה] free from his stubborn bonds to Elisha [H477 – אֱלִישָׁע].  The names of both men are likely word-plays on one another.  They are also likely to be seen as a prophetic unit up until Elisha asks to become essentially a double-prophet himself (cf. 2 Kings 2:2,4,6,9) after Elijah is taken away.
  • Elijah is taken by God in a whirlwind
  • Elisha officially becomes Elijah’s successor

The parallels between these accounts of Elisha and the cities of refuge are emphasized in bold above (i.e. Moab, Jordan, Jericho, 50 vs. the 50th Year of Jubilee, the symmetry across the Jordan, 12 tribes vs. 12 years and 12 yoke of oxen).

The Oppressors of Israel

The next prophetic occurrence of the number 42 occurs in 2 Kings 10:14. In accordance with the connections of Elijah and Elisha with the number 42 that we just covered, this next 42 is in conjunction with the fulfillment of prophecies by Elijah (1 Kings 21:20-24,29) and Elisha (2 Kings 9:6-10) against the house of Ahab and Jezebel, the harlot queen from Sidon (2 Kings 10:10). Jehu, a king chosen by God and anointed by Elisha (2 Kings 9:6) is the messianic character here. Earlier, in 2 Kings 9, we saw how he fulfilled these prophecies partially in graphic detail. In an earlier post, I described in significant detail the typological elements of these earlier accounts. That the account including this reference to the number 42 immediately follows this and describes how Jehu finishes the job hardly seems to be accidental.

This account opens with the 70 sons of Ahab who are killed in v. 7. In vv. 13-14, the 42 refers to the relatives of Ahaziah (who had been killed earlier by Jehu) who were destroyed when they announced that they had come to visit the king and queen.

Again, all these observations demonstrate the messianic nature of these passages and the numbers involved.

The next two occurrences of 42 are both associated with Saul. It was Saul who was the king who replaced the judges at Israel’s request (1 Samuel 8;10:17-26). It is in 1 Samuel 13:1 that we find that Saul reigned for 42 years. It was immediately before this in Samuel’s farewell speech that he reminds Israel that if they persist in doing evil, both they and their king would be swept away (1 Samuel 12:24)

Only 3 chapters later, God makes good on this promise and rejects Saul as king for not completely destroying the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15). Saul spared their king despite God’s instructions. This calls to mind a similar injunction made in the context of the cities of refuge discussed above (Numbers 35:31). This also echoes Leviticus 27:29. Later, we find Haman, the great oppressor in Esther, was a descendant of this king Agag. It was Haman’s death (Esther 7:10), that of his 10 sons and all those who sought the destruction of the Jewish people due to the conspiracy of Haman (Esther 9) that prompted the institution of the Feast of Purim (Esther 9:17-31). This happened in the 12th month.

After Saul is rejected, David, the 8th son of Jesse, is abruptly anointed king. Yet, he does not seize power. Instead, he enters Saul’s service as an evil spirit began to torment him. His only relief from the spirit came from David’s harp playing (1 Samuel 16:13-23; 18:10; 19:10). We’ve already seen associations of harps with the number 8 and eschatological events. Following this we have the death of the Philistine Goliath. As with the head-crushing theme found in Judges and the crucifixion site of Christ (i.e. Golgatha/the Place of the Skull; cf. Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), Goliath suffers a severe head wound by a stone (1 Samuel 17:46,49,51) and is wearing armor comprised of scales (1 Samuel 17:5).  This calls to mind the prophetic judgment on the Serpent promised in Genesis 3:15.

As in the cases before, the messianic allusions in this context are strong in connection with numbers, particularly 42.  The same can be said for another king descended from Saul.

This second occurrence of 42 associated with Saul applies to his son Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 2:10). Ish-Bosheth died when he was 42 years old. His murder and decapitation are recorded in 2 Samuel 4 in the context of the Sun (v. 5). It may be significant that when David avenges Ish-Bosheth’s murder, he has the assassins killed and their hands and feet cut off (2 Samuel 4:12). The head of Ish-Bosheth was buried. Compare to the fate of Jezebel described here.

Summary and Conclusion

We’ve just seen how the language applied to the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 and the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 ultimately points us to Old Testament prefigurements that occur again in conjunction with one another in the book of Revelation. Despite the wording of the immediate context, it’s hard to deny that these allusions don’t exist and that they aren’t deliberate. Despite the immediate referents underlying these kings, the language likely also applies to the end-times prefigurements found in these other Old Testament passages.

Nothing I’ve covered here definitively nails down the literal nature of Satan or his origin. It does however demonstrate that there is far more to these passages on the Kings of Tyre and Babylon than meets the eye. Despite our initial impressions on an exegesis of these passages, the biblical evidence strongly supports the idea that there are allusions being made beyond these two men. Further, these passages do have a justifiable place in theories regarding the origin, nature, and destruction of Satan. To say that this is not so is a serious overstatement. What remains to be seen is whether these passages support any theories of the origin of Satan as a fallen angel or some sort of spirit being.

A Response to Don K. Preston: The Timing of the Coming of the Son of Man in the Book of Daniel

The following is a response to a Facebook exchange between Don K. Preston and I regarding the topic of his debate with William Vincent – the historic fulfillment of the coming of the Son of Man of Daniel chapter 7. Mr. Preston affirms that this was fulfilled in the judgment on Jerusalem in 70 AD. Mr. Vincent affirms that it was fulfilled in the ascension of Christ.

While not a formal participant in the debate, I took the opportunity to express to Mr. Preston that the arguments of he and Mr. Vincent rely on the premise that the coming of the Son of Man in judgment on the 4th Beast and Little Horn must have happened at a time after Christ’s earthly life. In response to this challenge, Don has asked that I respond directly to several points that he raised. This post consists of my responses. I demonstrate that the above premise is false.

Response #1

Don has asked whether I believe that the four kingdoms were kingdoms that existed in time, among men. My answer is yes.

He also asked if the Little Horn was a real, historical figure that appeared in the days of the 4th empire. I answer yes, with the clarification that the 4th Beast is a significant kingdom, not necessarily an empire.

He also asked if I believed the Son of Man became a real, historical figure, that appeared in time, on earth, among men. My answer is of course, yes. He eventually did. But, unlike the Little Horn and the Four Kingdoms, the Son of Man also existed prior to His appearance in physical form. Don agrees that the Son of Man did not come literally, physically, visibly to judge the Little Horn. That is, by his own argument, the title “Son of Man” is not limited to Christ’s physical, visible form. If the title of “Son of Man” applies to Christ in His invisible, non-physical coming in judgement on Jerusalem in 70 AD, it also applies to His invisible, non-physical pre-existence.

His argument seems particularly strange if he believes (assuming he does) that Christ did not retain a physical body after His ascension. If He did not retain the form of a “Son of Man” in His ascension or coming in judgment, then, using the rigid application of this title for which Don is arguing, the title “Son of Man” hardly seems appropriate for His 70 AD judgment.

Further, it seems Don’s argument could also be applied to John the Baptist’s reference to Christ as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). That is, that any reference to an action of this Lamb in the history of man must be bound to the time after Christ physically manifested Himself as this Lamb. Yet, we are told that the Lamb was slain since the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Likewise, Christ’s kingdom is said to have been established at a time beyond His incarnation (John 4:23; 5:25; Matthew 16:28). Yet, we are told that kingdom was prepared since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:34).

In light of this, Preston’s appeal to Christ’s eventual manifestation as a real, historical figure does little to strengthen the case (let alone force the “logical necessity” he claims) that the time period in view for the Son of Man of Daniel 7 is some point after His physical appearance on earth.

Preston’s conclusions regarding the implications of this title on the time period to which it pertains may be reasonable, but they are by no means certain. Nor are they the only reasonable conclusions. In fact, the evidence suggests they are not even the likeliest of conclusions.

Response #2

Don has also asked me to directly respond to his point that the vision in Daniel 7 is limited to the time of the 4th Beast. There is an enormous body of evidence that this is also a false premise. There are four primary evidences of this.

  • The first is that Daniel sets an expectation to the readers that the judgment of the 4th Beast and Little Horn was a prefigurement of an eschatological, final judgment to be brought on a later kingdom. The judgment of that kingdom is described in the book of Revelation. If this can be demonstrated to be true, then the events surrounding Daniel’s 4th Beast and Little Horn of chapter 7 refer to more than one kingdom and span multiple periods of time. It follows then that the events surrounding the description of the 4th Beast cannot, with any degree of certainty, be limited solely to the immediate time of the kingdom represented by this beast.
  • The second primary evidence is that the biblical symbolism strongly suggests that Daniel’s 2nd and 3rd kingdoms are Media and Medo-Persia. This means that Greece would be the 4th kingdom and the Little Horn would be Antiochus Epiphanes. The evidence for these identifications is even weightier than scholars who agree with this assessment seem to currently be aware.
  • Third, we have every reason to expect that Daniel’s prophecies are elaborate riddles.
  • Fourth, the language of Jesus does not even closely parallel the language of Daniel.

Details on all of these points follow.

Parts of the Beast Were Preserved

The first primary evidence above can be broken down into the following 8 major points:

1) As a preliminary point, traditionally, preterists correlate Daniel’s 4th Beast with the Beast of the Sea from Revelation 13. These beasts are generally seen as different symbols for the same literal, historic kingdom (i.e. the Roman Empire). This would mean they refer to the same period of time and describe the same judgment event. However, it seems very significant that the Sea Beast is described in terms of a resurrected kingdom (Revelation 13:3). In the absence of other information, there are several ways to explain this that may be reasonably compatible with the traditional correlation. This observation may not directly lead to any solid conclusions on its own, but it gives us a strong reason to at least suspect that the Sea Beast symbolizes a different worldly kingdom separated by a span of time from the kingdom represented by the 4th Beast. In conjunction with the evidence presented later, I think this alternative view fits the available information much better than the traditional view.

2) The Little Horn is an 8th king (10 + 1 – 3) (Daniel 7:8). Compare to the 8th king – the Scarlet Beast who “once was, and now is not and will yet come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction” (Revelation 12:3; 17:3,8,11). This corresponding identity from Revelation appears to have been a resurrected influence from a former kingdom.

3) Though not an authoritative interpretation, the Apocryphal book of 2 Esdras may give us some insight as to how early interpreters saw Daniel’s 4th Beast. In 2 Esdras 11-12, the angel Uriel shows Ezra a vision of an eagle coming up from the sea. The eagle has eight opposing/rival wings (2 Esdras 11:3,11; 12:19-21). It also has three heads (2 Esdras 11:1,23; 12:22-23). As in Daniel (discussed in point 7 below), the vision focuses on the body, not the heads (2 Esdras 11:10,23,45; 12:3,17). In the interpretation of the vision, Uriel tells Ezra the eagle represents the same kingdom as Daniel’s 4th kingdom but “it was not explained to him as I now explain to you or have explained it.” (2 Esdras 12:10-12). It would seem likely that Daniel’s 4th Beast was understood to be a different kingdom than that of Uriel’s eagle – the Roman Empire.

4) Daniel describes the 4th Beast as being different than the first three (Daniel 7:3,7,19,23) yet the Sea Beast of Revelation incorporates features from each of these three beasts (Revelation 13:1-2)

5) The judgments on the Sea Beast and Daniel’s 4th Beast have one glaring difference. Revelation’s Beast from the Sea was thrown alive into the lake of fire and was tormented forever. This implies that it remained forever alive but powerless. (Revelation 19:20). Daniel’s 4th Beast was killed before being thrown into the fire and destroyed (Daniel 7:11). This is a significant difference that suggests they are not symbols of the same earthly kingdom.

6) It’s interesting that both the he-goat that explicitly represents Greece is ‘hairy‘ (Daniel 8:12) and the emperors of the Roman empire assumed the title Caesar. Latin words for Caesar (Caesar, Caesaris) are apparently rooted in the Latin words for ‘hairy‘, caesariēs, caesarieī. (See also G2541 and H8163)

7) Another more subtle difference between these beasts is that Revelation’s Beast from the Sea was obviously thrown into the fire intact (presumably because it was alive). However, suspiciously, only the body of Daniel’s 4th Beast is mentioned as being thrown into the fire, suggesting that there were pieces of it that were not destroyed. As subtle as this point may seem, the following observations make it quite obvious that this is very significant and we are intended to understand that the 4th Beast has not been completely destroyed. Two very significant parts of it (i.e. the head and feet) were marked explicitly for preservation by a significant combination of metals (i.e. “bronze and iron”) (Daniel 7:7,19). The fact that there is no significance explicitly stated for the “iron teeth” and “bronze claws” of the 4th Beast suggests one of two things. They are either largely irrelevant to the prophecy or their significance can be determined with such certainty that it hardly needs explained. In light of the following evidence, insignificance does not seem at all to be the likely interpretation.

A) The Messianic Significance of Bronze [H5154/H5178] and Iron[H1270]

i) bronze and iron are mentioned together 7 times in Daniel (Daniel 2:35,45; 4:15,23; 5:4,23; 7:19). Note, the only chapter in which it does not occur twice is in the last chapter in reference to the 4th Beast.

ii) Nebuchadnezzar was driven insane for 7 years and was restored exactly 8 years after the prophecy of this insanity had been given to him (Daniel 4:25-26,29). Babylon’s preservation during this period was symbolized by his stump being bound with iron and bronze (Daniel 4:15,23). Beyond this, Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity can be demonstrated to have additional Messianic significance. A future post will explore this in more detail.

iii) God would go before Cyrus and break through gates of bronze and iron to destroy Babylon. (Isaiah 45:2)

iv) The destroyers of Babylon (i.e. Medes) (Jeremiah 51:11,28) don’t care for silver or gold (Isaiah 13:17). The only other metals mentioned in the Bible are iron, bronze, tin (which itself is an ingredient in bronze), and lead. If the Medes cared for any metals at all, it would seem bronze and iron would be the only other ones with a use practical for their purposes in combat.

v) Stubborn Israel is described as having an iron neck and bronze forehead. She is told to flee Babylon and God promises not to destroy her completely (i.e. preserve her). God also promises judgment on Babylon. (Isaiah 48:4,9,12,14,20)

vii) Tubal-Cain was a worker of iron and bronze (Genesis 4:22). I’ve demonstrated elsewhere that there is enormous prophetic significance to Tubal-Cain’s family. For starters, his generation was the 8th and final one recorded from Adam through Cain. His lineage contains multiple adjoining references to Cain and the number 7 (Genesis 4:15,24). The names of Tubal-Cain [H8423] and his brothers Jabal [H2989] and Jubal [H3106] are all related to the word for Jubilee [H3104] as in, the year marked by 7 periods of 7 years each (Leviticus 25,27; Numbers 36:4). The year when all debts would be cancelled, slaves freed, and property returned to its original owners. Buwl [H945] is also related to these words and it was the 8th month, the month in which Solomon completed the temple after 7 years of building (1 Kings 6:38). Tubal is also scripturally connected with the confusion [H8397] of Babylon (Leviticus 18:23; 20:12; Revelation 17:1-2). Compare to the confusion [H1101] of Babel/Babylon in Genesis 11:7,9. In the middle 3 of the 7 recorded sons of Japheth, Tubal follows Greece (i.e. Javan [H3120]) which itself was preceded by Media (i.e. Madai [H4074]), the kingdom of the Medes (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5). These kingdoms are all very significant to both Daniel and Revelation. The eschatological significance of Lamech, Adah, Zillah, and Naamah can also be demonstrated with further connections to Daniel (particularly his 70-weeks prophecy) and other prophets. A future post will document this in much more detail. However, my main point here is that Tubal-Cain’s generation sets the expectation that the depravity of Cain will be preserved and continually reborn in future generations. Further, it associates this cycle with eschatologically significant Babylon.

vi) Zion to be given horns of iron and hooves of bronze to destroy many nations (Micah 4:13). She will go to Babylon but there will be preserved and redeemed (Micah 4:10). This passage is obviously Messianic and has parallels with other Messianic passages (Micah 4:3-4; Joel 3:10; Isaiah 2:1-4).

viii) The Promised Land has stones containing iron and hills full of copper [H5178] elsewhere translated bronze (Deuteronomy 8:9). Israel’s presence in this land would be preserved as long as they did not forget God there. Otherwise, they would be destroyed (Deuteronomy 8:19-20).

ix) Part of the curses to befall Israel for breaking God’s covenant was that the sky above her head will be bronze to resist the rain and the ground will become iron to resist the crops (Deuteronomy 28:23). The number 7 is also referenced here twice (Deuteronomy 28:7,25).

x) In the blessing of the tribes by Moses, the tribe of Asher would be given shoes (alluding to their feet) of iron and bronze (Deuteronomy 33:25). Asher was the 8th son of Jacob (Genesis 30:13), named for the happiness of his mother Leah at his birth. Asher is said to be “most blessed” out of all of the tribes (Deuteronomy 33:4). The Hebrew word for 8 is intimately connected with the concept of finality, completeness and the ‘blessing’ of perfection, happiness and fullness. Straight from Strong’s Concordance under the entry for H8083 (shĕmoneh – 8), “from H8082 through the idea of plumpness; a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the ‘perfect’ seven)”.

xi) In the 7-fold judgments on Israel alluded to in the bowls, seals, and trumpets of Revelation (Leviticus 26:18-24), part of the curses include the sky above them becoming iron and ground beneath them becoming bronze. The sense is the same as in point (ix) above.

xii) In David’s preparations for Solomon to build God’s temple, bronze and iron were for the nails [H4548] of the doors of the gateways and for the fittings (1 Chronicles 22:3). H4548 only occurs 4 times in Scripture. It derives from H5568. H5568 itself only occurs one other place in reference to the 3 kingdoms God would summon to help the Medes destroy Babylon (Jeremiah 51:27-28). Incidentally, this word has connections to bristling hair, shagginess or a rough coat. Compare to the concept of the shaggy He-Goat of Daniel 8 identified as Greece from point (6) above. Nebuchadnezzar is also mentioned as swallowing Israel like a snake and spewing her out (Jeremiah 51:34). Compare this to (xiv) below. There are also many parallels between Jeremiah 51 and chapters 14 and 18 of Revelation.

xiii) Bronze and iron (2 Chronicles 24:12-13) were used to strengthen the temple that had fallen into ruins under Athaliah when she reigned (2 Chronicles 24:7) during the 6 years that young Joash was in hiding. The eschatological significance of Joash is enormous. He was protected by his aunt Jehosheba (2 Kings 11:2; 2 Chronicles 22:11-12). In the 7th year, Jehoiada, the chief priest, rose up and destroyed the house of Baal, anointed Joash king and killed Athaliah (2 Chronicles 23:21). Joash was 7 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 40 years (Israel’s wilderness wanderings are mentioned in 2 Chronicles 23:9). His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba (i.e. 7 wells). The mothers of the two servants (Jehozabad and Zabad) who eventually killed Joash in judgment for his apostasy were Shimeath and Shimrith. These are likely word-plays on the number 8 (cf. shĕmoneh [H8083]). Compare to another notable “servant of man” Obed-Edom. Obed derives from abad [H5647] meaning ‘servant’. He was a musician who played the harp according to the ‘sheminith‘ [H8067](i.e. an 8 stringed instrument or tonal octave) (1 Chronicles 15:21). He was ‘blessed’ with 8 sons (1 Chronicles 26:4-5) after he became caretaker of the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:10-12; 1 Chronicles 13:13-14). Compare this to Jubal, the 8th generation of Adam through Cain and the father of musicians who played the organ and harp (Genesis 4:21). Obed-Edom’s descendants grew to 62 in number (1 Chronicles 26:8). Compare this to the age of Darius the Mede, the conqueror of Babylon (Daniel 5:30) and the division of the 70-weeks prophecy into periods of 7, 62, and 1 (Daniel 9:25-26). Just as Lamech, Jubal’s father, was the first man recorded to have two wives, we are told, seemingly out of context, that Jehoiada also had two wives (2 Chronicles 24:3).

xiv) Zophar the Naamathite tells of the downfall of all those who oppress and forsake the poor (Job 20:24). A judgment foretold since man was placed on the earth (Job 20:4). The wicked are said to flee from a iron weapon only to be pierced by a bronze-tipped arrow. The account focuses on snakes and their venom (cf. the prophecy of judgment on the serpent Genesis 3:14-15). Zophar [H6691] is related to the words for hairy and goat [H6842, H6841]. Naamathite [H5284] is practically a homograph for Naamah [H5279], the sister of Tubal-Cain from point (vii) above. Just prior to this, Job pleads that his words could be recorded forever, with an iron tool on lead [H5777]. He references ‘the end’ when God would stand upon the earth and Job would see him with his own eyes. He also speaks of judgment. (Job 19:23-29).

xv) In Job’s final discourse on wisdom in reply to his friends, he references the collection of iron from earth and copper [H5178] out of stone in contrast to the elusive source of wisdom (Job 28:2). There are Messianic allusions throughout this context. The entire discourse opens with the subject of wisdom (Job 26:3) and covers 6 chapters (Job 26-31). This discourse also refers to Abaddon/Destruction and Death (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12). Compare to the Angel of the Abyss in Revelation 9:11 and the destruction of Death and Hades (Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). God churns up the sea and cuts the sea monster Rahab to pieces (Job 26:12). Rahab is also mentioned in Job 9:13 in conjunction with the Pleiades [H3598] (i.e. 7 stars). The Pleiades are also mentioned in Job 38:31. Elsewhere in Scripture, Rahab is mentioned in an allusion to the parting of the Red Sea for God’s redeemed (Isaiah 51:10-11). God also pierces the gliding serpent Leviathan (Job 26:12-13). Compare this to point (xvi) below. The fate God allots to the wicked is also mentioned (Job 27:13). The number 7 occurs 8 times in Job. These references occur at the beginning (Job 2:13; 5:19) and end (Job 42:8,13). Multiples of 7×2 also occur in Job 42:16,12 in accordance with his double restoration (Job 42:10). Job also makes references to the prophetically significant Sabeans (Job 1:13; Isaiah 45:14), Chaldeans (Job 1:13) and Sheba (Job 6:19). Jesus tells us the Queen of Sheba who tested the greatness of Solomon’s wisdom with riddles (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12) would rise in the final judgment (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:41).

xvi) Job records Leviathan, a beast from the sea and the feeble obstacles that iron and bronze present to him (Job 41:27). Job’s cursing of his own life opens with a reference to Leviathan (Job 3:8) after he and his friends sit together for 7 days and nights (Job 2:13). Leviathan is destroyed in the ‘Day of the Lord’ (Isaiah 27:1), when the earth “will conceal her slain no longer” (Isaiah 26:21). Satan, the instigator of Job’s suffering and an attempt to bring a curse on God at the beginning (Job 1:11,2:5,9) is never mentioned again in the book. Yet, right where we might expect to see God claim victory over him, instead we see two beasts in his place that bear a resemblance to those in Revelation 13 where they appear allied with the Serpent/Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:12). Right before the introduction of these beasts, God challenges Job in his ability to crush and bury the wicked in the dust and thus save himself from the wicked and “every proud man” (Job 40:11-14). Also, instead of a curse on God, Satan’s efforts bring a curse on the birth of Job, as indicated when Job speaks as “the enemy” [H347 cf. H340,H341,H342] (Job 3:1). Contrast this with the burnt offerings Job offered for each of his 7 sons and 3 daughters as a precaution in the event that one of them had cursed God in their hearts during one of the feasts they held on their birthdays (Job 1:4 NIV).

xvii) Behemoth has bones like bronze and iron (Job 40:18). This beast from the land “feeds on grass like an ox”. Compare to the diet of Israel’s military men in Numbers 22:4. These words are spoken by Balak son of Zippor [H6834] (also related to hairy and goat), king of Moab. Here, the false prophet Baalam asks Balak for 7 altars, 7 bulls, and 7 rams to summon a curse on Israel from the hand of God. However, only blessings come forth (Numbers 23:1-3). Revelation 2:14 recalls the enticement Balaam presented to Israel. Micah also calls to Israel’s mind Baalam’s failed curses (Micah 6:5). Incidentally, this follows chapter 5 which contains the promise of the Messiah (Micah 5:2) quoted in Matthew 2:6 and a promise of vengeance on the nations. Micah 5:5 mentions 7 shepherds and 8 leaders of men. Chapter 5 also follows the reference to Israel’s iron horns and bronze claws mentioned in point (vi) above.

xviii) In the story of the redemeed of the Lord, “those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, north and south” (Psalm 107:2-3) some of whom had been “prisoners in iron chains” (Psalm 107:10) but God “breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron” (Psalm 107:16). Compare to Cyrus in Isaiah 45:2 in point (iii) above. Reference is also made to the gates of death and the grave (Psalm 107:18-20).

xix) In the narrative of the Messianic Age, gold replaces bronze and silver replaces iron. Then bronze and iron make a reappearance in the place of wood and stones respectively (Isaiah 60:17). Immediately following this is a description of the light of God replacing the light of the sun and moon (Isaiah 60:19-20) Compare to Revelation 21:23; 22:5,16; Isaiah 19:18; 30:26; 58:8-10.

xx) Jeremiah is described a “defensed” city, an iron pillar, with bronze walls to resist and be rescued from Judah (Jeremiah 1:18-19). This is in the context of a vision that Jeremiah is shown of a seething pot in reference to the threat of Babylon against them.

xxi) Israel’s inhabitants are described as hardened rebels like bronze and iron (Jeremiah 6:26-28). Babylon, God’s army from the north, is described as a tester of metals and Israel is described as the ore. Incense from Sheba is also mentioned (Jeremiah 6:20).

xxii) Again, in reference to the coming judgment of Babylon, God asks if man can break iron from the north or bronze (Jeremiah 15:12).

xxiii) Heavenly man with arms and legs like bronze (Daniel 10:6)

xxiv) And finally, metals are of course significant because they pass through fire unharmed (Numbers 31:22-24)

B) The Significance of the Head, Hands and Feet

i) During Nebuchanezzar’s 7 year insanity, his hair grew like feathers and his nails like the claws of a bird (Daniel 4:33). He also is said to “eat grass like an ox”. Behemoth, a eschatological character also ate grass like an ox (Job 40:15). Compare also to the lion who eats straw in the messianic age (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25) and the lion representing Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire (Daniel 7:4). Compare also to point (A. xvii) above.

ii) The head and hands are also significant biblically in the Old Testament (Exodus 13:9,16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18; Ezekiel 9:4) and regarding the thoughts and actions of people (Revelation 9:20). In Revelation, the head and hands received marks and names (Revelation 17:5) of both the Lamb and the Sea Beast signifying both preservation (Revelation 7:2-3; 9:4; 19:16-17) and resurrection (Revelation 13:3,14; 20:4; 22:4). The token injustice against the saints was beheading (Revelation 20:4). Christ’s own feet, emblems of healed wounds and resurrection, were like bronze (Revelation 1:15; 2:18).

iii) The head and legs/feet had special significance in burnt offerings of domesticated beasts (Leviticus 1:4,8-9,12-13; 8:20-21; 14:10,17,19) and those being consecrated (Exodus 29:20; Leviticus 8:23-24;14:14,17,25,28) and their preservation (Leviticus 8:33-35).

iv) The partial destruction and preservation of prophetically significant persecutors of Israel’s past. For example, Jezebel, notable for two specific instances of murdering God’s prophets (2 Kings 9:35). This is a section charged with prophetic prefigurements, but Jezebel’s demise is particularly relevant to our discussion. She is noted for her unjust killing of God’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4,13) and Naboth [H5022] for his vineyard (1 Kings 21). Naboth incidentally means “fruit, increase, bring forth” and bears a striking resemblance to the words for prophet and prophecy [H5012, H5013, H5016, H5017, H5029, H5030, H5031].

Later, in 2 Kings 9, Jehu meets kings of Israel and Judah – Ahaziah and Joram – in Naboth’s field. He kills Joram right there and then Ahaziah after he fled by the way of the garden house and was fatally wounded at the going up of the cubs (i.e. Gur [H1483]). He then died in prophetically significant Meggido [H4023].

After that, in Jezreel, Jezebel – the harlot as Jehu implies – is thrown to her death from a tower and she is eaten by dogs. All the dogs leave of her is her skull, hands and feet (2 Kings 9:35). Interestingly, as she sees Jehu approaching, in an attempt to preserve herself, she marks her head (2 Kings 9:30). This is all in fulfillment of Elisha’s earlier prophecies, initially prompted by Naboth’s murder (1 Kings 21:23; 2 Kings 9:10,36). The implication is Jehu was a deliverer but he was not going to be the one to restore Israel and Judah and was not the expected Messiah. Jezebel was gone but her likeness would rise again requiring someone greater than Jehu to completely destroy.

v) The only body parts significant enough to merit a description at the introduction of the resurrected beast of Revelation are its feet and mouth (alluding to its head) (Revelation 13:2).

8) Duality or splitting of things into 2 symmetrical parts is actually very central to the Messianic types and prophecies. Some examples:

And it is not at all out of character with the prophetic language of Daniel. The possibility of a double-fulfillment of the figures of the 4th Beast and Little Horn seems quite likely to follow such examples.

A) There are multiple eschatological abominations of desolation alluded to in Daniel (Daniel 8:13; 9:26-27; 11:31; 12:11). Jesus applied one of those to His time (Daniel 9:26-27; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:14) yet another was obviously in reference to Antiochus IV (Daniel 8:13; 11:31 and possibly Daniel 12:11).

B) Desolations (plural) is also used in Daniel 9:26, a prophecy supposedly relating to only the desolation of 70 AD.

C) If the “time, times and half a time” refer to 3 1/2, this number divides 7 into two equal parts suggesting it was only one component of two periods of time relating to the end times. The anointed one is cut off in the middle of one ‘seven’ (Daniel 9:27). These two statements suggest that there are two components to Daniel’s view of the Judgment of the Messiah.

D) There are two approximations of three and a half years (1,260 days vs 1,290 and 1335) (Daniel 12:11) The difference between the 1,335 days of ‘blessing’ of Daniel 12:12 and the 1,290 days in Daniel 12:11 is 45 – exactly 1/8th of a 360 day year. This suggests there are 2 phases to the 3 1/2 years, the last being far more significant than the first.

E) The power of the Holy people would be finally broken in fulfillment of Daniel 12:7 alluding to the temporary breaking of the power as well as a latter part of a divided 7 with the reference to “time, times and half a time”

F) Two distinct terminations of the daily sacrifice (Daniel 8:11-12 vs. Daniel 12:11)

G) 2,300 evenings and mornings vs. the 4,600 taken in the Babylonian exile (Daniel 8:14; Jeremiah 52:30)

H) Babylon itself was divided and given to two allied kingdoms in Daniel 5:28. This division was in conjunction with a riddle and some plays on words (phrases that have dual meanings.) Word-plays are common in Scripture and are strongly associated with the confusion of languages at Babel/Babylon.

J) Belteshazzar [H1095/H1096] (i.e. Daniel) was poised to assume the same level of power as Belshazzar [H1112/H1113] (Daniel 6:3 cf. 5:29). Belshazzar was the second highest ruler in the kingdom as co-regent of Nabonidus. It is obviously no coincidence that these names are near homographs.

K) In Daniel 11, I dedicate a great deal of space to demonstrating that the King of the North and King of the South are each dual references to God as well as the earthly kingdoms He’s using to accomplish His will. Also, the King of the North is dual reference to Syria and Roman empire. Syria is also represented by both the King of the North and King of the South at different points in the prophecy. I demonstrate all of this here.

L) there may even be significance to the words of Jesus when he speaks of Satan’s kingdom, the epitome of Babylon, “every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation [G2049]” (Matthew 12:25; Luke 11:17). Compare this to G2050 used for desolation in Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:14 and nowhere else. The only other place in the New Testament that G2049 occurs is in Revelation 17:16;18:17,19 in reference to the Whore of Babylon.

These points are all consistent with the extreme possibility that the destruction of the 4th Beast encompasses two distinct periods of time and two kingdoms of similar character.

The 4th Beast Symbolizes the Greek Empire, Not the Roman Empire

The second primary evidence can be broken down into the following 3 major points:

1) The 3rd Beast Was the Medo-Persian Empire, Not the Greek Empire

The 3rd Beast was symbolized by the 4-winged, 4-headed leopard [H5245]. Most see the wings as representing the speed with which Greece conquered the world. It expanded quicker than any empire before it.

However, there is staggering, scriptural evidence that the 3rd leopard-like beast was actually Persia.

A) There are 2 other creatures in Scripture itself that have associations with 4 wings, 4 heads and are covered in spots/eyes like a leopard (Jeremiah 13:23). Those are the Seraph (Isaiah 6:1-6; Revelation 4:6-8) and Cherub (Ezekiel 1:4-14; 10:14-20) that are in the presence of God’s throne.

B) Before elaborating on the relationship between the leopards, seraphim, and cherubim, when interpreting the significance of the leopard, it’s also important to realize that this imagery of the four beasts in general has a scriptural precedent. The beasts in Daniel 7 are almost certainly echoing the judgment about to fall on the northern kingdom of Israel through God’s use of Assyria in Hosea 13:7-8. There, all these animals are united to represent God in His role as judge.

Incidentally, this judgment coincides with an east wind (Hosea 13:14). Compare this to the wind and whirlwind of Hosea 4:19; 8:7 signifying God’s flaming whirlwind-like chariot-throne. A whirlwind also accompanied God’s throne and the cherubim of Ezekiel 1 too (Ezekiel 1:4). This throne is most definitely seen in Daniel 7:9-12 and I think it can be argued very persuasively that we are also intended to see it in Daniel 11:40 as God destroys Greece in judgment.

Unlike Hosea though, in Daniel, the beasts are separated, suggesting God’s influence over all nations just as was the case with Assyria. Though, at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that this imagery wasn’t also intended to call to Judah’s mind the obliteration of her sister Israel. This imagery would likely have been an ominous warning to Judah that they were in danger of the same fate. The initial exile under Babylonia had been temporary but the restoration would also have its end. Indeed, Daniel makes the reality of this “end” pretty clear later on.

In Revelation 13, we see these beasts reunited in a representation of Rome carrying out the same judgment on Jerusalem that its sister Samaria had undergone by Assyria.

All this suggests these animals have direct connections to God Himself as Israel’s judge and savior. Both the bear and the leopard seem to have a focus on God’s role as savior just as both the Medes and Persians did. If the bear was Medo-Persia, in what sense was Greece a savior to Israel? While Greece at first crossed the earth “without touching the ground” (Daniel 8:5) and was hospitable to Israel, it became a monster that brought immense suffering on them. On the other hand, Medo-Persia was always amicable to Israel and assumed a definitive Messianic role in her history.

C) So, returning to the significance of the 4-winged, 4-headed leopard. If we are to determine what kingdom this represents, it may be helpful to look for evidence in Daniel 8 where kingdoms are explicitly matched to the symbolic animals they represent. The kingdom of the Medes and Persians are the Ram (Daniel 8:20) and the shaggy He-Goat is Greece (Daniel 8:21). We are also told that this vision took place next to a body of running water – the Ulai river – in the province of Elam. Also, the ram was standing right beside the river in the vision. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that ram [H352] and Ulai [H195] all derive from the same word meaning mighty [H193]. The words for God and judge [H410, H433, H426, H430] also derive from ram [H352]. Also, Ezekiel’s vision of the cherubs and God’s throne takes place near a river, the Kebar river.

Hebrew words for rivers themselves are related to Jubilee which in turn is also associated with horns of rams. Further, Daniel hears a voice from the river asking “How long” (Daniel 8:16) just as in Isaiah 6 where we saw the seraphim. The speaker isn’t mentioned but it seems likely it was God, especially comparing the voice to the one in v. 16. So the Ram has intimate and longstanding connections with God and his salvation. This is consistent with Persia’s typological relationship to the Kingdom of Christ.

How does this serve as evidence that the Ram and the Leopard refer to the same kingdom? Our first hint comes from Isaiah 11:6-7 where we see a leopard [H5246] laying down with a goat [H1423] in a famous messianic prophecy. The other animals mentioned in this prophecy have obvious parallels to the faces of cherubim. The idea being conveyed is that enmity between these animals had been removed in the Messianic kingdom. Just as the ram and he-goat of Daniel 8 are enemy nations, the leopard and the goat are former enemies here. Could the leopard and ram be symbols of the same thing?

Leopard-Cherub of Daniel 7:6

Leopard-Cherub of Daniel 7:6

D) It’s also interesting to consider where the word for leopard originates. Believe it or not, it actually has its roots in the concept of clear, clean water. Confirm this by looking up the relationship between the Hebrew words represented by Strong’s numbers H5245, H5246, H5247, H5249, and H1039. This is surely significant in light of the fact that each of the first 3 beasts are unclean animals according to the Levitical law, yet all of them symbolized God in Hosea 13:7-8.

Compare this to Daniel 10:4 where another vision and river are mentioned in the prelude to the prophecy of the Kings of the North and South in Daniel 11, a prophecy of judgment where we find God’s whirlwind-chariot-throne is key to properly interpreting the fulfillment of verses 11:40-45. The river in Daniel 10:4 is the Tigris [H2313]. This word only occurs one other place in Scripture and that is in Genesis 2:9-14. There it occurs in conjunction with the Tree of Life and God placing man in the garden. It is called out as the 3rd of the 4 rivers (literally “heads” – H7218) that split off from the river running through the Garden of Eden, the garden of God’s presence. The same garden that man was driven from and then protected by a cherub (Genesis 3:24). Does this suggest that the 3rd beast out of the 4 in Daniel 7, a cherub-like leopard, specifically having 4 heads is to be associated with the clean, pure water of Eden and perhaps the ram and river of Daniel 8?

Compare this also to the sea of glass and the 24 thrones of Revelation 4:4. Notice, also, the Tigris is mentioned in conjunction with the number 24 and is sandwiched between two different suggestions of 3 ‘sevens’ (Daniel 10:2-3,13). Compare this to Revelation 4:1-8 where we see God’s throne, 24 other thrones, a crystal clear sea, 7 spirits of God, and hybrids between cherubim and seraphim. Consider also that the vision of the Ram and the He-Goat was also seen in the 3rd year of “Belshazzar” (Daniel 8:1) while the vision containing the reference to the Tigris is shown to “Belteshazzar” in the 3rd year Cyrus (Daniel 10:1). If 3 is to be our focus, we might notice that 24 is also 3×8 (8 being a number of Jubilee).

E) If the segmented statue of Daniel 2 parallels the 4 beasts of Daniel, the leopard correlates with the bronze section of the statue. As the Medo-Persian empire was a mixed rule of the Medes and Persians, bronze seems like a better representation of a mixed kingdom to me than silver. It’s the only alloy of all the metals mentioned in the statue or the Bible for that matter. Bronze is copper and tin. The Hebrew word for tin [H913] derives from a word meaning ‘divided’ [H914]. That fits well with the word-play in the writing on the wall when Babylon fell (Daniel 5:24-28). Babylon was divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Copper also has other connections to seraphim and cherubim.

Many other observations can be made but that should be sufficient to make the case.

2) The Second Beast Was the Kingdom of Media

This beast was the bear. In Hosea 13 from above, God says he would come to Israel “like a bear robbed of her cubs” and “tear open their breast” (Hosea 13:7-8 ESV). In Daniel 7, the bear follows the lion reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar, the one who had robbed God of His own cubs. This bear also has ribs in its mouth, likely from the tearing open of Israel’s rib cage. Compare this also to Samuel 17:8 speaking of David, a messianic figure, while in hiding from his son Absolom. Also, Israel moans like bears having been separated by God because of her sin (Isaiah 59:11).

The actual language used in the description of the bear being raised up is not clear, but it suggests that the bear was raising itself up. This is strange in that it would seem contrary to one of Daniel’s key lessons that God alone is responsible for raising up the lowliest of men and bringing low mighty kings (Daniel 4:17). Unless there was something unusual God was doing with this kingdom. These words also occur in some other unique places in Scripture that suggest Messianic significance to their occurence with the bear.

Further, in connection with the Pleiades (‘seven’ stars) from point (A. xv.) above, in Job 9:9;38:1-2, God takes credit for leading out the constellation of the Bear [H5906] with its cubs. In these spots, God also takes credit for opening the bands of Orion (aka the Fool [H3685]). Compare to the bonds of Samson [H8123] (aka. the Sun) provided by the fool Delilah and the 7 locks on Samson’s head (Judges 16:19; Numbers 6:9). The word for ‘fool’ which Orion derives from is H6384 and occurs exclusively in the books of Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes 70 times in total. Only 3 occurrences are in Psalms placing the remaining 67 in the books that are traditionally attributed to a very wise man with a lot to say about foolishness – King Solomon. He’s a man with many associations with the Messiah and the Sun. Orion and the Pleiades are also mentioned in (Amos 5:8) in connection with the permanent fall of Israel (Amos 5:2) and a reference to Beersheba (Amos 5:5). Additionally, Job 9:7; 38:7,12,32; Amos 5:8 all allude to the Sun.

Media was actually very significant as is evidenced in many points above. As with most of God’s miracles involving people and nations, He delights in doing great things with the seriously disadvantaged underdogs. Independent Media certainly was that and more.

3) The 4th Beast Was the Greek Empire

The above evidence pigeon-holes the identity of the 4th Beast to Greece. However, in addition to that, we also have the similarities between the little horn of Daniel 7, the small horn that grew up in Daniel 8:9-12,23-25, and the description of Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel 11. They are very similar, especially considering the usage of time statements like the “time of the end” and the “appointed time”.

Riddles Are A Central Element to Daniel

If all of the above evidence seems out of character for God, this section should alleviate those doubts and demonstrate that the book of Daniel in general is anything but straightforward.

Daniel is presented as a revealer of riddles (H280 [Aramaic] cf. H2420 [Hebrew]) (Daniel 5:12). We should expect that the visions that he saw might involve some significant elements of riddle to them. God himself delights in riddles. And the words meaning ‘riddle’ occur only a little more than 20 times in the Old Testament so their significance should be relatively easy to spot.

Moses is arguably the only Prophet, prior to Christ, to whom God did not speak primarily in riddles [H2420] (Numbers 12:6-8; Deuteronomy18:9-21; 34:10). Several prefigurements of Christ have strong associations with riddles. Two of them have connections with the Sun. The Sun is extremely important in reference to the Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom (Genesis 37:9; Joshua 10:12-13; Isaiah 19:18; 30:26; 41:25; 45:6; 55:19; 60:19-20; Malachi 4:2; Luke 1:78; 23:45; Revelation 12:1; 21:23; 22:16)

Samson, whose name means “the Sun” [H8123] and was arguably a Messianic type in many ways, was notable for his riddles (Judges 14:12-19).

God gave Ezekiel a riddle regarding the Babylonian exile (Ezekiel 17:2). Coincidentally, Ezekiel, also contains nearly 100 recurrences of the phrase “son of man” found in Daniel 7. This far outweighs the occurrences of the same phrase in any other book of the Bible.

Solomon, another arguable type of Christ, has connections to riddles too. The riddles [H2420] of the Queen of Sheba [H7614 cf. H7651,H7652 – ‘seven’] tested Solomon’s fitness for ruling and judging his kingdom (1 Kings 10:1-9). Solomon, like Samson, also has definite connections to the Sun. His wives enticed him into worshiping Chemosh [H3645 cf. H8121,H8122, H2535 – “the Sun”] with high-places on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings 11:7) east of the city (i.e. where the Sun rises). Solomon is also credited with writing the Book of Ecclesiastes, containing the refrain “under the Sun” 27 times in 9 out of its 12 chapters.

Even Antiochus Epiphanes in his first mention in Daniel 8:23 harnesses the God-like power of intrigue (lit. H2420 – riddles) in his role as an arch-nemesis of God and his people. Interestingly, the sons of Javan [H3120], were the Greeks, and Javan derives from the word for ‘wine’ as does ‘caba’ [H5433] which is itself identical in written form (i.e. a homograph) to Seba [H5434]. Compare these to Sheba [H7614] and ‘seven’ [H7651,H7652] and you can see a connection may exist between the Greeks and the riddles of Sheba.

Finally, Jesus too confounded his public statements in the form of parables (Matthew 13:13; Luke 8:10).

All that is just to say, that the prophecies of Daniel are more than likely riddles. As such, they are confusing by their very nature. Even Daniel, the revealer of mysteries himself, is still confused in 8:27, one of the most plain of all of Daniel’s visions. It may be no small matter either that Daniel, like the other prophets in general, deals with the rise and fall of Babylon, the place where confusing languages was initiated by God (Genesis 11:9).

So, I believe we have adequate reason to at least allow that Daniel’s prophecies might not always be what they appear to be on the surface. The myriad of opinions that have developed around Daniel over the centuries have certainly demonstrated that to be true. Of course, that shouldn’t be abused as a license to read things into the text that aren’t there. But where we find clues that seem like they could have interpretive value in light of biblical precedents, perhaps we should follow them.

Jesus Does Not Parallel the Language of Daniel

In my opinion, this is a small point on which my case does not largely rest. However, the rigidity of the language of Jesus and Daniel is something on which Mr. Preston places a great deal of importance. My only response is that Daniel very clearly says that the Son of Man was coming to be before God. Even if we favor the Old Greek over the Aramaic, He still does not appear to be coming in judgment in this instance (though, He as the Ancient of Days would definitely be the judge the Little Horn). In Matthew 24 and 26, Christ reapplied this language to His coming in judgment, identifying Himself with the Ancient of Days in response to the prodding of the High Priest. The implication is that by the time that judgment was fulfilled, He would have already ascended to the right hand of the Ancient of Days.

Conclusion

In conclusion, these points raise serious challenges to any argument that the coming of the Son of Man of Daniel 7 was a reference exclusively to a point in time after the life of Christ. They are also at odds with the totality of modern scholarship on Daniel – critical and sympathetic. Yet, their explanatory power is striking and meshes seamlessly together into a coherent prophetic picture that spans all of Scripture.

The nature of these types and shadows are so subtle yet convincingly demonstrable that it’s hard to conceive how mere man could have detected it and perpetuated it for millennia. It’s equally hard to comprehend why they would even endeavor to do such when there was virtually no confidence that the future events they were alluding to would ever actually occur. Further, there was no reasonable assurance that the virtues of what they were perpetuating would be appealing enough to be passed on by generations of readers who were virtually oblivious to the hidden significance of the symbols. Only a God in complete control of history could or would write in such a subtle manner.


Whirlwinds

Having covered the significance of the north vs. south symbolism in my previous post, we will now discuss the symbolism of the whirlwind as it pertains to our key verse of interest. Let’s look at that verse again.

“At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships.”

Daniel 11:40 NKJV

In this verse, we see a peculiar reference to the King of the North rushing against the king of the south (the second ‘him’ in the verse) like a whirlwind. At first this probably just seems like nothing more than artistic embellishment by the heavenly man presenting it. That seems to be how most people throughout history have interpreted it.

However, just as the symbolism of the north vs. south has a significant biblical precedent, we’ll soon see that the whirlwind does as well. Let’s now take a look at how the ‘whirlwind’ is used in scripture.

Terms for Whirlwind

Now, let me say up front, that we do have to be a little careful here. Let me explain why.

The Hebrew word for “whirlwind” used in Daniel 11:40 is sa`ar. If you’d like to look it up in a Strong’s concordance, it’s Strong’s number H8175. This word is only used in a handful of places elsewhere in scripture but this occurrence in Daniel is the only place where any English translation renders it as “whirlwind”. In other places it’s translated as “fear” or “terror” or something similar. So, it may seem that our search for the significance of the biblical use of whirlwind wouldn’t go beyond the very verse we are starting in.

Fortunately, there are several other Hebrew words that can also mean ‘whirlwind’. Realizing that, to determine if there is some significance to the symbol of the ‘whirlwind’, we may need to expand our search a little to allow for words that may not be exactly the same Hebrew word as that used here in Daniel.

It turns out, that some of these additional words meaning ‘whirlwind’ actually bear a very close resemblance to the word used here in Daniel 11:40. With other words of similar meaning however, such a relationship to our whirlwind in this passage may not seem as strong. To be fair in our analysis, then, we will deliberately try to limit our options to only to the words that have a clear relationship to that which is used in Daniel 11:40.

With that explanation out of the way, let’s look at two of the other Hebrew words that can mean whirlwind. These are Strong’s numbers H5590 and H5591. Here is the Hebrew representation of these words.

Hebrew Words Meaning Whirlwind

Hebrew Words Meaning Whirlwind

After being transliterated into English, both words are spelled ca`ar. As noted earlier, the Hebrew word for “whirlwind” used in Daniel 11:40 is sa`ar. Notice how similar all three of these words look in both Hebrew and English. There’s a reason for that. They are pronounced similarly, if not exactly the same way in both languages. So here we have 3 words. They can all mean the same thing and they are all pronounced the same way. They are clearly related.

Keeping a conservative mindset, it seems very reasonable that our search for passages relating to whirlwinds should at least include these two Hebrew words. The following are English versions of key verses that employ the Hebrew words H5590 and H5591 and that also translate them as ‘whirlwind’:

Whirlwinds in Scripture

Turning to the New King James again, Ezekiel tells us

“Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”

Ezekiel 1:4

Notice again that here this whirlwind – a symbolic image of God – is also coming out of the north.

“No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.”

Isaiah 40:24

“See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.”

Jeremiah 23:19

“When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. … As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

2 Kings 2:1,11

In this account of Elijah, notice the association of the whirlwind with the chariot and horses. All of these things are mentioned in our passage in Daniel 11:40 as well. Isaiah also makes this association:

See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Isaiah 66:15

Again, in Habakkuk, we see God riding into battle:

“Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?”

Habakkuk 3:8

Even God’s messengers are depicted in 2nd Kings as a mounted cavalry:

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:17

In Psalms, David says

“The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.”

Psalm 68:17

Ezekiel 10 actually takes this imagery a step further and reveals that God’s chariot doubles as his throne.

And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Then he spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”

Ezekiel 10:1-2

Later in verses 15, 20, and 22, Ezekiel realizes that this throne was the same chariot he had witnessed back in verse 1:4. Notice this throne has wheels like a chariot. Rather than being a stationary object as is the case with the thrones of most earthly kings, God is pictured as taking his throne wherever he goes into battle.

Jeremiah tells us that when God sets his chariot-throne within a nation, this signifies the execution of judgement on that nation.

“I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,” declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 49:38

Quick Comparison to Daniel 7:9-10

As a quick side note while this image of the fiery chariot-throne of God’s judgment is fresh in your mind, if you’re familiar with Daniel’s other prophecies, you’ll recall that in the vision of the 4 beasts of 7:9-10, immediately after the body of the 4th beast is destroyed by fire, Daniel sees the fiery throne of the Ancient of Days set in place. Based on what we’ve seen in scripture, we can conclude that this throne – God’s throne – has all the trappings it did elsewhere is scripture. In particular, we can infer that it has the appearance of a whirlwind-like chariot drawn by flaming horses.

At the very least, this demonstrates that imagery bearing a striking resemblance to that used in Daniel 11:40 was used at least one other time in Daniel as a symbolic portrayal of God’s judgment. Could it even suggest that these two visions of Daniel are actually describing contemporaneous events – perhaps even the same event?

That’s a topic for another time, so I’ll just let you think on that one on your own for a while. I just wanted to plant a little hint there that whatever we end up making of Daniel 11:40, it may also have a significant impact on how we understand earlier prophecies of Daniel.

Whirlwind: Recap and Summary

So, getting back to our original topic of the ‘whirlwind’, let’s take stock of what we’ve just learned.

Here in Daniel 11:40, we have a king representing the north rushing out like a whirlwind with chariots and horses against a king of the south. Elsewhere in scripture, we’ve seen whirlwinds coming out of the north that are clearly associated with God’s vehicle of judgment, his fiery chariot-throne. Within another oracle of Daniel, the vision of the 4 beasts from the sea, we saw a curiously similar judgment scenario unfold using comparable imagery.

Is it just me or does it seem that a person could be forgiven for concluding that the king of the north here in Daniel 11:40 is, somehow, a picture of God himself?

And if the king of the north represents God in this verse, maybe it’s represented God from the very beginning of the prophecy? This certainly would fit very well with all the biblical evidence we’ve seen up to this point.

Other Hints of God

In fact, in light of this realization, other seemingly irrelevant statements begin to take on heightened significance as indications that this king of the north may actually be a veiled reference to God.

Several times in Daniel, language very similar to that which is used to describe God’s prerogatives is applied to those of earthly kings. For instance, the phrase “does as he pleases” occurs 3 times in Daniel 11 itself. It appears in verses 3, 16, 36. In the first two of these verses, it’s the king of the north who does as he pleases. In the third verse, it’s just “the king”, with the term ‘north’ excluded but the last king referenced before this was the king of the north so it seems likely that this anonymous king is really another reference to the king of the north.

What’s interesting here is, that in Daniel 4:35, Daniel warns king Nebuchadnezzar that it’s God who does as he pleases. This means that 3 times in the same prophecy containing our puzzling verse, the king of the north is ascribed the unique privileges of God Himself.

We also find support for this idea in another book of the Bible which is from the same general time period as Daniel – the book of Esther. Let’s turn there for a moment.

It’s long been recognized that although God isn’t mentioned even once in Esther, His providence and guiding hand over the course of history are significant, if only implicit, themes. The assumption is that God is acting in history through the earthly characters and events of the account. These same themes are also predominant in Daniel. Further, a primary concern of the personalities of Esther is pleasing the earthly king of Persia. Statements referring to the “king’s pleasure” occur at least 14 times in Esther.

We should ask ourselves, is it just a coincidence that the pleasure of an earthly king, a king portrayed as one of the primary agents through whom God brings about His will, is such a prevalent subject of both Daniel and Esther? Could it be that these books demonstrate examples of the same sort of allusions to God’s invisible hand in history?

In another of Daniel’s prophecies, we also see mention of a king who does as he pleases. This is the king of Persia represented in a vision as a ram in Daniel 8:4. This same verse ties this concept of pleasing the king to another common theme of Daniel. The theme of irresistible destruction. Daniel 8:4 mentions that there was no one in existence who could stop the ram’s conquest. Or as Daniel puts it, “no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand”. In fact, just a few verses later, the tables are turned on the ram as a male goat, symbolizing the king of Greece, enters the scene. The goat shatters the ram’s horn in Daniel 8:7 and it’s stated that “there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.”

In Daniel chapter 3, we find Nebuchadnezzar rhetorically asking what god could rescue those who refused to worship the image he had made. He specifically asks “what god could rescue them from my hand”. We also see king Darius in Daniel 6 trying to devise a plan to rescue Daniel from the lions. In the cases of both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, it’s God who is ultimately credited with the ability to rescue his servants from certain destruction. We see this when Nebuchadnezzar responds to the saving of Daniel’s friends from the fiery furnace in Daniel 3:28.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king?s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Daniel 3:15

Likewise, Darius responds in similar terms to Daniel’s miraculous rescue from the lions:

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” … When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” … He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Daniel 6:16, 20, 27

Is it then just an insignificant coincidence that the earthly kings of chapter 8 (the Ram and the Goat) are also said to have this power to rescue? And is it just shear happenstance, that verse 4 of that same chapter, chapter 8, also uses the phrase “does as he pleases” elsewhere attributed to God alone. And is it just by chance that the Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes, is the central Greek figure of that same chapter and also chapter 11 where he’s one of the Kings of the North?

Now if all these instances indicate that these nations and kings possess powers that are characteristic of God alone, is it any stretch of the imagination at all to think that the king of the north of Daniel 11 is to be understood as none other than God himself acting out his will in history through earthly nations?! It seems to me that a person could easily reach that conclusion.

Further, elsewhere in scripture, the whirlwind seems to be associated with the early warnings and initial phases of God’s judgment. We saw this earlier, where Ezekiel witnessed God’s whirlwind-like chariot-throne leaving the temple and the city of Jerusalem, coming to rest over the Mount of Olives, the mountain east of Jerusalem. This signified that God had abandoned the city and would not be fighting for her when the Babylonians came to invade.

Even before Ezekiel’s time, Hosea 8:7 has God stating that the destruction of the Northern King of Israel would be tantamount to reaping the whirlwind – the fitting punishment for sowing nothing but spiritual wind. This last occurrence of whirlwind is quite different than the three Hebrew words we looked at earlier. In keeping with our commitment to not consider such words, we will establish our case here independent of it. However, after this case is established, an investigation into this word can be quite fascinating itself. Perhaps we can do that in another article.

Suffice it to say, there is a longstanding tradition that the presence of God and the initial phases of his wrath are indicated by the concept of the whirlwind.

Returning to Our Question

So, let’s backup for a moment. Where exactly are we in relation to the question we set out to answer earlier? That question was “what justification is there for supposing that the kings of the north and south in the second part of Daniel 11:40 are different than they were in the first part?”. So far we’ve seen that similar changes in identity that are abrupt and undetectable by context alone do occur several times elsewhere in this prophecy. We’ve also seen convincing evidence that God is somehow to be understood as the true king of the north and spiritual forces in opposition to him are symbolized by the south. That is, the earthly kings associated with the symbol of the north are the agents of God’s judgment and the king of the south represents the recipients of God’s judgment. We’ve also seen evidence that he is most associated with this whirlwind during the early warnings and initial phases of his judgment. While all this is certainly interesting, it’s hard at this point to see how this all brings us any closer to the answer we are looking for. Something still seems to be missing from this equation.

Judgment Patterns in Scripture

There is in fact one more piece to the puzzle that we will need before the picture will be complete. This has to do with the pattern in which God portions out his judgment on nations.

Imagine, for example, a nation that has been under observation by God for a good long time. He finds that their actions continually displease Him. How does God deal with such a nation? According to the Bible, he generally lets their transgressions continue only to a predetermined point. When that transgression extends beyond this point, that’s when he brings judgment on that nation. God alludes to this principle of his judgment when he informs Abraham how long his descendants will remain outside the land of Canaan.

In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.

Genesis 15:16

Here, God acknowledges that the Amorites are sinful people but in his patient forbearance, he indicates that he has given them a certain threshold which their sin must exceed before he will bring judgment on them. In this passage, he also hints that when the time does come for judgment on the Amorites, Abraham’s descendants will be the executors of God’s judgment. That judgment will be the military might of Israel.

And we find this principle at work throughout scripture. God’s judgment against one nation takes the form of the military power of an opposing nation.

These nations are not chosen for this purpose because their rulers are necessarily more pleasing to God or because they have an established zeal for enforcing God’s laws. A nation is chosen in many cases simply because they already have a selfish disposition toward subjection of the nation that God wishes to judge. God, with his sovereign power to bend the forces of evil to his will, uses foreign nations as unwitting participants in His overall plan. As far as they are concerned, their aggressive actions towards other nations are for the purposes of furthering their own interests. They have little or no regard for the purposes of God. This evil intent does not escape God’s attention, but he tolerates it long enough to fulfill His purposes.

Therefore, just as with the nation that is currently the focus of God’s judgment, the nation executing that judgment -the executor- is assigned a specified point to which God will no longer tolerate its evil intentions either. When this point is reached, the executor of God’s judgment will be convicted itself. That nation will then become the new focal point of God’s judgment. And just as with the earlier nation, the executor of this judgment will be a nation itself, albeit, a different one. And so the cycle continues on and on.

Lest we assume that this observation is mere speculation on our part, God Himself says point blank that this is exactly how he operates. Consider how he describes the manner in which he would deal with ancient Assyria in these passages from Isaiah:

“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. … When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”

Isaiah 10:5-7,12

God fulfilled this promise when the forces of Babylonia conquered the Assyrian empire.

Combining this cyclical principle of judgment of nations by the military forces of other nations and the principle that God’s judgment emanates from the north, we can deduce that after the executor nation (symbolized by the north) finishes carrying out God’s judgment on the judged nation (symbolized by the south), the focus of God’s judgment should then tend to progress from the south toward the north.

To put it another way, as the judgment on the south subsides, it gives way to God’s compassion for the suffering remnant, and the new target of God’s judgment becomes the north, the former executor of God’s wrath. Here again, we don’t have to speculate. This principle is stated explicitly on several occasions in scripture:
God commands Ezekiel:

“Say to the southern forest: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it”.

Ezekiel 20:47

A chapter later, God says,

“Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

Ezekiel 21:4

This south-to-north progression of judgment even seems to be alluded to in the description of how the guards were arranged around the young king Joash to protect him from the evil Athaliah:
2 Kings 11:11, and 2 Chronicles 23:10 tell us that the guards, each with weapon in hand, stationed themselves around the young king Joash -near the altar and the temple and they were oriented from the south side to the north side of the temple. These guards, the agents of God’s wrath, were instructed to kill anyone who dared to come near the king. The description of their arrangement is yet another indication that the order in which judgment is executed is in the south first, then the north.

Conclusion

I think by now you’re maybe starting to see where this is all leading. So, let’s walk through it together.

A consistent theme of Daniel is that God is in control, as reflected in the title of Dr. Gurney’s book. Nations are always operating at God’s behest whether they realize it or not. As long as they refuse to acknowledge this and do not yield to his will, they are storing up wrath against themselves. Once their disobedience surpasses a certain point predefined by God, His pent up wrath will engulf them. God has chosen the cardinal direction of the north to signify the place from where He righteously executes this just punishment. The objects of this wrath are the earthly rulers who have chosen to align themselves with spiritual forces in opposition to God. These rulers are symbolized as taking their stance in the south.

Had we been aware of this symbolism at the outset of the vision, we could have immediately sensed that the account of the kings of the north and south was depicting a judgment scene. We would have been able to infer from the very start that the judgment on the recipient nation would gradually cease. Further, as that judgment would draw to a close, we could anticipate that God’s judgment would be shifting its focus northward all the while. Ultimately, the focus of judgment would rest completely on the north. It’s quite possible that this transfer of roles may occur implicitly and transparently so as to preserve the heavenly viewpoint symbolized by the north vs. south imagery. This by itself would seem to lend more credence to the idea that maybe the identities of the nations do change exactly as Dr. Gurney proposes. This would appear justifiable even with only the striking parallels between the text and the events of recorded history.

Fortunately, we have indicators well beyond that. We are not left to assume that this is only a mere possibility within the text. We actually see the intensity of the narrative increase in a very striking way. The whirlwind of the second half of verse 40 accompanied by the chariots and horses are well established Old Testament symbols. They represent the blinding suddenness with which God first blasts open the storehouses of his blazing hot wrath. This classic trademark is a dead giveaway that God’s disciplinary action, though it has been waning with regards to the south, has once more been revived. According to the Biblical pattern we’ve seen, this outpouring of wrath would seem to be the initial phase of a judgment from God. Since this is an initial phase of judgment, it would seem strange if the target were still the same nation whose judgment had been introduced at the beginning of the chapter. Rather, this judgment is in response to the sin of the nation of the north surpassing the tolerable limit which God had set for it. At this point, then, God’s wrath is terrifyingly manifest against his former, inadvertent allies. The force of God’s judgment once again returns to full strength but has come to bear fully focused on the nation that had previously represented His interests, when it was symbolized by the north.

You see, we have, for ages, wrongly assumed that the nations referred to by the north and south do not change. In reality, it is the lens through which God sees the world that does not change. And from His viewpoint, judgment comes from the north. Yet, no nation remains associated with the north forever. All nations are temporary agents of God’s wrath. Eventually, those agents will be judged themselves. And once judgment finally comes around for a nation associated with the north, that nation can no longer properly be seen by God as the north. It is no longer his agent, his executor. It becomes the target of His judgment and therefore a representative of the south. A new nation enters the scene as God’s executor and becomes associated with the north. This happens seamlessly and implicitly.

So, if we are going to detect this change in the text, we’ll need to either look to history or find something within the text itself that could serve as an indicator. Fortunately we have both. In the second half of verse 40, then, the King of the South changes from Egypt, to Syria, the former King of the North. Syria is being judged by Rome, who, according to history, has become the new king of the North.

Gurney's Hypothesized Transition

Gurney’s Hypothesized Transition

So, there you have it. A biblically based explanation of why these verses have bewildered believers and emboldened skeptics for several thousand years. We’ve seen not only why the seemingly odd change of nations does occur but also why we should have probably been expecting the change to be necessary after reading only a few verses into the oracle. The rest is, well, history. History which we can learn more about by at another time.

We’ve covered a wealth of information in this session. Information that is hard to digest in one sitting. I’d encourage you to investigate these subjects more on your own and reach your own conclusions. Whether you ultimately agree or not with the views presented here, I’d love to hear you’re thoughts on this interpretation -positive or negative. Please post your comments below to join the conversation or email me for private inquiries. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

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