Denmark and Norway in the Light of Bible Prophecy

By Mikkel Stjernholm Kragh

 

Denmark and Norway are the modern-day representatives of the tribes of Dan and Naphtali. Dan and Naphtali were full brothers, the adoptive sons of Rachel through her handmaid Bilhah.

 

Dan and Naphtali, Bilhah and Reuben (Genesis 30:1-8, 35:22)

Dan and Naphtali were Jacob's sons no. 5 and 6. He had just gotten 4 sons by his lawful wife Leah, when Rachel was envious at Leah and wanted children, too. Jacob got angry at Rachel, who then gave him her handmaid Bilhah for a concubine. Bilhah conceived and bare Dan and Naphtali. In a sense Dan and Naphtali were therefore Rachel's children, albeit her adoptive children, but biologically they were Bilhah's children. Dan was the firstborn, and was thus the leader of the two full brothers. In a sense Dan had "the birthright" of the House of Rachel-Bilhah.

After Rachel's death, Jacob's eldest son Reuben "lay" with Bilhah: "And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it." (Genesis 35:22)

For this reason Reuben lost the birthright of the 12 sons of Israel, and the birthright was transfered to Joseph : "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)" (1 Chronicles 5:1-2)

The episode with Reuben sleeping with Bilhah was repeated in the Napoleonic Wars, where

France would correspond to Reuben,

The twin kingdom of Denmark-Norway to Bilhah,

Denmark to Dan,

and Norway to Naphtali.

 

Denmark-Norway in the Napoleonic Wars

Denmark-Norway had been a twin-kingdom under Danish leadership since 1380. When the Napoleonic Wars started, with Great Britain and France being the main opponents, Denmark-Norway remained strictly neutral, but was at the same time an important naval nation.

In the summer of 1800 a British squadron demanded to seize a Danish-Norwegian convoy protected by the frigate FREYA, but Freya's captain refused. A battle commenced, but with Freya's 40 canons and the British squadron's 130 canons, the Danes surrendered.

In December 1800 Denmark-Norway entered an armed league of neutral nations with Russia, Prussia, and Sweden, but the next year Russia entered an alliance with France, and Britain therefore demanded that Denmark-Norway left the league. But Denmark-Norway chose to stay in the league.

On 2 April 1801 a British navy under Admiral Parker and his second-in-command Lord Horatio Nelson arrived by Copenhagen and bombarded the city. The battle itself was a stalemate, but Britain achieved its goal, because afterwards Denmark-Norway left the armed league of neutral nations.

On the night between 4 and 5 May 1802, disaster struck, when Denmark's national gems, the Golden Horns, were stolen. The Golden Horns were two horns of solid gold made app. 400 AD, which had been found in a field in south Jutland in 1639 and 1734. A year later Niels Heidenreich, a Jewish goldsmith who had been arrested for mixing brass into the gold he sold, confessed that he had stolen the Golden Horns, melted them, and sold the gold for his own profit.

After a few years Napoleon had strengthened his control of continental Europe, but had lost his navy in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The Danish-Norwegian navy was considerable, and many believed that France desired it. To come in advance of France, Britain in September 1807 therefore send a navy to Copenhagen and demanded that the Danish-Norwegian navy temporarily was handed over to Britain and that Denmark-Norway entered an alliance with Britain. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark-Norway - who in effect ruled the country in his father's stead - refused, and the British navy bombarded Copenhagen in what is described as the first-ever terror bombardement of civilians, by testing the new Congreve incendiary rockets. Half of Copenhagen burned down to the ground, and Denmark-Norway was forced to hand its entire navy over to the British.

Crown Prince Frederik practically threw himself into Napoleon's arms, and Denmark-Norway was then in a state of war with Great Britain. The war primarily consisted of minor battles between the new small Danish-Norwegian canonboats and the larger British ships in Danish territorial waters.

Denmark-Norway's new ally France sent Spanish troops to Denmark.These Spanish troops very literally "lay" with Danish women, as there are a good number of Danes today who can trace their lineage back to Napoleon's Spanish troops.

After Napoleon's warluck began to fade after his failed invasion of Russia in 1812, Denmark-Norway was one of the few countries in Europe which continued as France's ally.

In September 1813, disaster struck again,  when the Danish-Norwegian state went bankrupt after several years of inflation.

After Napoleon in 1813 was defeated at Leipzig by Russia and Sweden, the Swedish Crown Prince turned against Denmark-Norway, and in January 1814 king Frederik VI of Denmark-Norway - he had now become king - had to cede Norway to Sweden. Denmark kept the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, though. The Norwegians tried to crown the Danish-Norwegian Crown Prince Christian as their new king, but the Swedish king immediately prevented it.

Denmark, which previously had been a rich and large country, was now a small and impoverished country which had lost its honour. And Norway had become a part of Sweden.

 

Reuben's fall

By comparing the testimony of the Holy Scriptures with the history of the Napoleonic Wars, it can therefore be deduced that France lost the Napoleonic Wars and the position as the leading nation of Europe, because it made Denmark-Norway its ally.

Since 1815 France has not been the leading nation in Europe, but has become less influential than both Germany and Britain.

 

Bilhah's fall

Reuben (France) thus lost its position as number one in Europe. But what about Bilhah (Denmark-Norway)?

Bilhah's punishment can be seen in the division of Denmark-Norway, in the reducing of Denmark to a small, impoverished, and un-important nation in Europe, and in Norway becoming a part of Sweden.

 

King Christian and Freya

The Danish national anthem is "Kong Christian stod ved højen Mast" ("King Christian stood by the lofty Mast"), written in 1778 by Johannes Ewald. When royals are present this is the song that is sung. It is also the prefered song of the armed forces and the foreign ministry. The song is bombastic with lyrics about bravery and battle.

In 1823 Adam Oehlenschläger wrote "Der er et yndigt Land" ("There is a lovely Country"), and it soon gained popularity and was by the 1920's considered the unofficial Danish national anthem. Today it is very often sung by laymen, at football matches, for instance. This song is soft and gentle, and in a repeated line refers to Denmark as "Freya's hall":

"And its ancient name is Denmark. And it is Freya's hall. And it is Freya's hall".

Freya was the fertility goddess in the old North. Others call her a sex goddess, and she indeed has characteristics of a prostitute. In the myth about how Freya acquired her necklace, she is said to have gotten it from four dwarves as payment so that they could "sleep" with her.

Freya's sacred animals were, very appropriately, the pig and the cat.

 

Freya or Bilhah

Since the Danes are the tribe of Dan, they would subconsciously remember their biological mother Bilhah. Freya is therefore probably the Danes' VERY corrupted memory of Bilhah.

Danes ought to drop "Der er et yndigt Land", as the song actually calls Denmark "the harlot's hall", and instead return to "King Christian"!

 

September 2008