Part Eleven: 'The King of the North and the Papacy'
Written by Glen Frachiseur
April 2, 2024
And he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over—He. Who is this ‘he?’ Still the king of verse 36, the principle subject. He, the Papacy, the subject, is initiating a counterstrike in response to the actions taken against him by the king of the south, and in turn by the king of the north.
Almost universally within Adventism the king of the north of Daniel 11:40 is seen as the Papacy. According to this view, the Papacy has been well established as the willful king of verse 36, but then assumes a renewed, or revived form, as the king of the north. It is portrayed as the Papacy that is healed of its deadly wound.
The context that drives this view is the longstanding belief that the king of the south fights against the king of the north, who then responds with overwhelming force.
In this article we will be looking to see if the Papacy has indeed taken on the role of the king of the north, and if the king of the south and the king of the north are actually engaged in a conflict with each other. As we focus in on these particular points, we would do well to consider again the reason that both the Jews and Millerites missed the correct interpretation of the present truth for their time. “In both cases there was an acceptance of, or rather an adherence to, popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth,” and that “Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the prophecy.” GC 351.2, 352.3
These then, become the two questions to ask: How did the Papacy suddenly become the king of the north? and, are the kings of the south and north of verse 40 engaged in a conflict against each other? Does the Bible support either of these views?
