Deal with Iran and the Book of Daniel

Koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Visiting Professor, Department of Liberal Education, Kyungpook National University, Sangju Campus, South Korea, Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

The media is full of the new deal that the West made with Iran about nuclear verification and sanctions lifting, even a quick suggestion to hand out a Nobel peace price. In some quarters of the world there is excitement and happiness for the deal, certainly all Iran’s allies and friends feel the same. The World leader Obama is smiling and satisfied because it will make him look good again after peace with difficult Cuba. In other quarters that include not only Arabs but also Israel, great concern is expressed. Prof. Daniel Pipes wrote an article that speaks for itself: “Obama's Iran Deal Has the Makings of a Catastrophein Arutzsheva of 15 July 2015. “Not the Chinese building islands, the Russians taking Crimea, or the collapse into civil wars of Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq” can be listed as problems with the administration of the USA, also this deal, says Pipes. Another veteran journalist is Jack Engelhard and his blog in the same newspaper basically reads “The Iran deal: They win, we lose”. Then Engelhard predicted something that caused me to grab the notebook: “In the coming hours, days, weeks, months and years, get ready for headlines about Iran’s refusal to comply with this, that or any part of the agreement.”

This has not happened yet. So Engelhard is predicting here. My interest was switched on at this point and again not for political analysis or this nation or that nation’s national interest. My interest is solely the exegesis of a prophet who was given by God the ability to see our times: the prophet Daniel.

Why is Daniel brought into the picture? The reason is that Daniel 11 was one of the most interesting chapters of the book in which the prophet was given the scenario of events from the Persian times until the coming of the Messiah in chapter 12:1-2. All three great religions, Judaism, Christianity and both Sunni and Shīite Islam are expecting a future coming Messiah or Messiahs. Their details are not the same and within each of these religions their details of the end-scenario differ considerably. Sometimes the details are very complex of each group and I consulted also the book of Moshe Sharon, Judaism, Christianity and Islam 1989. It is not the only source but it does make a deal about the complexity of Islam Messianism.

Without going into long discussions of how preterists interpreted Daniel as applicable to the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and no later, and historicists interpreting everything successively through the centuries to the papacy in 1798 for verse 33, I can just say that after this verse all scholars over the world, all in historicism has gone “misty” and in the smoke of understanding they grabbed to a symbolical interpretation starting to allocate global parties and institutions as this country and that country, severing the demography of the countries mentioned in Daniel from the map and made sometimes north to be south and south to be north, all because of globalism and ideological “inreading”. An Australian Louis Were in 1949 was one of the great starters in this direction and many followed his explanations. It is a literal interpretation of demography that suddenly twisted to a symbolical interpretation after verse 33. But let us leave the subject here and get back to Iran.

Historicism and Presentism are different approaches. Historicism looks back to what has happened already. Presentism is involved with today and now. Although it was the practice of historicism to wait a decade or two before analysis relied on the event to be connected to prophecy, I do think that as we get closer to the coming of the Messiah in Daniel 12:1-2, that clarity will prevail of where we are.

Where are we?

We are with the Deal of the West with Iran in verse 44.

This is the only verse that I think mentions Iran. East is east of Shushan and Shushan is east of Teheran in modern times. That is where Daniel was when he got the vision. The prophet explained that he saw how “News from the East disturbed him [which is in my exegesis the USA as World power that took over from the Papacy in verse 35 in 1798 when Berthier, the general of Napoleon arrested the pope. In an article I wrote in Adventist Today of 2014 “The Naked Pope” I indicated how low the papacy was made by this action of France recorded by sketches of Napoleon’s artist. Then the new World Order kicked in and that is the “he” of verses 36-44, the USA. The literal interpreters like the Adventist prophetic scholar Uriah Smith suggested France in his times but he did not consider the USA who would become in future the real World power of the new World Order after the end of the Holy Roman Empire. This “wounding” of the Holy Roman Empire was described by the New Testament prophet John in Revelation 13 which of course happened in 1798. But the “wound was healed” says John and the growth of the power of the Catholic Church is really a wound healed. Also a fulfillment. Future decisions are molded with an intertwining of the USA and the Vatican dancing according to each other.

This is outlines of prophecy that we need to find the realities of events to connect with.

To get back to verse 44 of Daniel, the prophet says that “News from the East has disturbed him” and the USA will make war with Iran and with the North. Now North has no king here and that is exactly what we have in Iraq, no king after the removal of Saddam in verse 40 earlier. Is there indication that some connection of an event between Isis in Iraq and some events in Iran is going to link the two for shocking news in the future? I am reminded of the words of Jack Engelhard supra in Arutz sheva and wonder if his words are not an echo of this verse 44 in Daniel 11?

I am always uncomfortable about explaining situations like this for knowing the future without proper spirituality is deception. The purpose of knowing the future is that we have a conversion experience with God and belonging totally to Him, following His Torah of instructions to us, we can do right and righteousness with love that belongs to God. Only on our knees are we prepared properly for these events and no other way. Paul said that even if we have the ability to tell the future and we have not the godly love of God (agape) we are nothing. I always asks myself if I am fully surrendered to God to be qualified for this aspect.

The Deal of Iran makes some jump high with excitement but in Africa they say: the higher you jump the harder you fall. It is in the above context that I am thinking and in no other way. Will it come true? We have to wait and see.

Dear God

Your Word is a certain Word that never fails and which has the ability to lift us up from selfseeking to worshipping You. Accept us as Yours we commit. Amen.