Kings of the South and the North
Open Your Bible
Daniel 11:5-45, Ezekiel 20:4-9, Matthew 23:37-39
BY Melanie Rainer
My daughters were in Narnia for the first time this summer. Every night, they’d beg for the next chapter of C.S. Lewis’s beloved fantasy series. The spell has taken them in, totally, as we talk of Aslan and Lucy, of Reepicheep and Mr. Tumnus, of glory and dust, of past and future. Prince Caspian is the second book in the series, and its opening chapters read like a stop-and-start, future-and-past prophecy. The Pevensie children return to Narnia, and find themselves retracing their Narnian steps 1300 years after they left, though it has only been a year at home in England. Caspian, the titular character, knew the legends but never expected to find Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy and Aslan to come to his aid, restoring his place as rightful king.
As they struggle to grasp the reality of waking up in the ancient ruins of their once-glorious Cair Paravel, time shifts forward and backward in their minds. Could this be my sword? Peter wonders. Our table? Our home? Is this where we danced and played and ruled a beautiful, peaceful kingdom?
Holding the tension of “the already and not yet,” the mix of grief with memory but also hope, is a benchmark of the Christian life, and I felt that familiar, yet somehow distant, feeling while reading Daniel’s third prophecy, in Daniel 11. Already living in exile, Daniel is given a prophecy of an even longer exile, while also clinging to the hope of the Davidic kingdom the Israelites had once known, longing for the time when they would finally leave exile and rebuild Jerusalem.
Daniel’s prophecies were very real to his audience and to the Jewish people. They predicted events that would be fulfilled over the next four hundred years of Israel’s history—redemption that would come for a season and a people. But the redemption Daniel foresaw comes to us as well. We cling to the hope of something that was here once (Eden), and we know will one day come again (God’s fully restored kingdom).
Daniel’s prophecies, especially here, are for us, too, as people of God’s already-and-not-yet kingdom. As believers with a future hope, we constantly experience the push and pull of kingdom living. Our hearts quicken to signs and wonders, reminding us of something that hasn’t happened yet, but we somehow miss and long for anyway. We are Prince Caspian, steeped in the ancient history of our beloved kingdom, but never expecting the good king himself to break into our present.
But when he does, it’s glorious. And that hope that Daniel prophesies and the rest of Scripture proclaims, is very real. God’s kingdom is everlasting, from generation to generation. Once, hundreds of years after Daniel’s exile, Jesus broke into the earthly realm and planted the seeds of God’s kingdom. And one day, He will come again, and bring with Him the full flourishing kingdom that our hearts were made to hope for.
28 thoughts on "Kings of the South and the North"
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I started Narnia with my daughter this year as well, so Caspian’s story is fresh in my mind. What a beautiful analogy! I’m thankful for the hope of Aslan and the restored Narnia.
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War. What is it good for? It is the fight of evil and evil but eventually good and evil. And Good will win!
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“For still the end will come at the appointed time.”
Despite all the political intrigue and wars of Daniel 11, that phrase comforts me. God remains sovereign and in control. Time is in His hands. And because He is good, we who know Him need not fear.
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Thank you, Churchmouse, for these words of encouragement. As I fear the outcome of the upcoming elections, this gives me comfort.
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This past year, I have found myself more than ever before caught in this tension of being present here yet longing for what I know is coming and that we were made for! I long for home, I long for Jesus. And yet, there is work still to be about here. There are people lost and searching for truth, and I want to be available to help lead people to that Truth.
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The battle that is described in Daniel 11 is confusing and a little exhausting. Alright already, we get the point. They go back and forth and no one wins because they refuse to believe in God. But then I think about how my life can look so similar. I bounce between the desires of my flesh and the enticing deceit of the world. I will thinking I finally have the answer or have it all figured out, then maybe if I just buy this one thing or look this certain way it will all feel ok. It will all be good. But the only times this battle can truly end is when I surrender ALL of these desires for power and self actualization and a sense of “peace” to God. The more I fight and battle, the more my battle grows deeper and stronger. Matthew 23 says “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’!” If I try to show up in any other way, I know my plans will fail. I do love though how Daniel 11 acknowledges my imperfections saying “some of the wise will stumble, so they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.” There is hope in what is to come, but in the life I live until then, God will challenge me and the world will pull me in a million different directions. If I stay firm in my faith and draw close to God, I will get better and my faith will grow and the name of Jesus will be glorified through my words and actions.
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Love this- I feel the same way! thanks for sharing and encouraging me to stay the course!!
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Amen!
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CC, Chris Swan, and Kimberly Holman – I prayed and thanked the Lord for each of you yesterday, for some reason it did not post. I wanted you to know you are in my prayers and praise both.
Tuesday, on the way to work, the Christian radio station kept breaking up and a talk show about Covid and politics came in and out. On every hill, songs of Jesus power filled the car, while every valley brought Covid numbers and political thoughts. Isn’t that exactly where we find our days? We battle to focus on the eternal while the firey arrows come against us.
Yesterday morning I had to travel to a bigger city. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper, but moving, across all the lanes, in the dark. Cross traffic, street lights, businesses lit up, big trucks and cars. Distractions and chaotic pace surrounded.
He Reads Truth for today ends with: “Under His loving authority, we can rest in His strength and not in our own. Apart from God, there is no Savior (Isaiah 43:11). Where is our allegiance? To whom do we ultimately bow? What master do we truly serve?”
This world is not our home. We are on a battlefield. May our eyes and ears be fixed on our Savior. May our strength be in Him alone. Bowed low-complete allegiance, may we serve the King and live in the glow of His Light and Love. The victory belongs to our Father. May we be found faithful in Him.
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SO thankful my hope is not in earthly things but in an everlasting God who loves each of us so deeply and personally!
Dorothy, so happy to see you back on this site! I’ve been thinking about you and praying for you!
Rita Ann, I am lifting up prayer for you and your surgery today! I underwent my first ever surgery in August and I was very nervous tearful too, but I think that made it very clear to the doctor and nurses how nervous I was and they were very kind and comforting to me! Praying you have a similar experience and it’s okay to cry if you need too!
Churchmouse, I just saw your reply to me and Sarah D. from Sunday! Thank you so much for that beautiful prayer. I copy and pasted it to a Word document to pray over the next person I’m interested in dating and keep with me forever!-
❤️
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As Daniel prophecies brought about hope for the Israelites, we too can be steadfast and hopeful of the everlasting promise of God sanctioned by our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ; soon and very soon He will return to fulfill the hope of eternity. The thought of this truth invigorates my hope all the more. Thank You Jesus.
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