Daniel 11God’s ability to move in and out of time. Isaiah 46: 8 Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
v.1 1st year of Darius was 539 BC The angel is speaking here. He helped establish Darius as king in the first year of his reign. The angel confirmed and strengthened the King Darius. Cyrus is now the king. v.2 There were three other kings of
These were followed by a fourth, Xerxes, who trained an army of two
million men. After training his army, he attacked and defeated
v.3 The "mighty king" here is Alexander the Great. Began his conquering in 334 BC. In 11 years he conquered most of the known
world and then wept back at v.4 The prophecy here says that Alexander would be cut off in his prime. His kingdom was divided between four of his generals. So Alexander the Great will rise up but when he falls the kingdom will not go to his family, to his posterity nor will they receive the full extent of his dominion.
Verses 5-20 are a series of wars: v.5 The "king of the south" was Ptolemy I Soter (325-285 BC), the general who ruled Egypt. The "king of the north" was Seleucus I Nicator (312-281 BC), the general who took Syria. Israel was between the two kingdoms and suffered from the continual warfare between them. v.6-7 The kings of Egypt and Syria made a peace pact after Ptolemy II Philadelphius ( 245-221 BC king of the south) helped Seleucus (Antiochus II Theos: king of the north 262-246 BC) regain control of Syria. To seal the bargain Ptolemy gave his daughter, Berenice, to Seleucus for his wife. Seleucus divorced his wife Laonice and married Berenice. However when Ptolemy died, Seleucus left Berenice and took back his former wife Laonice. She poisoned Seleucus and had Berenice and her of Berenice assassinated. Then the Laonice’s son became the new Syrian king. v.7-8 Berenice's brother was now the Egyptian king (Ptolemy Euergetes) and was very angry about his sister’s murder. He invaded and defeated Syria to avenge his sister's death. He took the fortresses and plundered Syria of its gods, gold, and costly vessels. (Jerome tells us that he took 40,000 talents of silver; 4,000 talents of gold; and over 2,000 idols). Seleucus II Callinacus was Laonice’s son. v.10 The king of Syria’s sons: Seleucus III Cernaunus (who was killed) and Antiochus III the Great. Captures Gaza... v. 11 v.11-12 The of the south raised an army of 73,000 men, 5,000 calvary and 73 elephants and defeated Anitochus the Great (226-223 BC). He took destroyed 300 calvarymen, 3 elephants and took 4,000 prisoners. Egypt again fought with Syria and again defeated her, but the Egyptian king didn't follow up his victory by strengthening his position. He didn’t subjugate the Syrians but went back and lived a life of luxury and licentiousness in Egypt. v.13-14 When Ptolemy Philopator died, the kingdom was given over to his 5 year old son Ptolemy V Epiphanes. Antiochus the Great took 14 years, raised a lot of money and developed a huge army greater than Ptolemy Epiphanes and attacked him in (221-203 BC) Egypt. "But many shall stand up." When it became apparent that Egypt was going to fall others joined Ptolemy in fighting Egypt. Philip of Macedon joined with him against Egypt at this point. Plus some rebels in Egypt, plus some of the Jews, who were called the robbers of thy people will exalt themselves to establish the vision and they shall fall. v.15. So the king of the north, Antiochus the Great, shall come and cast up a mount and take most of the fenced cities and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. The Egyptian General Scopus was defeated. v.16 The "glorious land" is Israel. This was promised to Abraham 7x’s in Genesis (e.g. 12). Antiochus after the battle came back to Jerusalem and them well because they had fought with him against Egypt. v.17 Antiochus then to keep Egypt in its place, he gave his daughter, Cleopatra, to the young Egyptian king (Ptolemy V Epiphanes 203-181 BC). However, Cleopatra turned against Syria and stood with Egypt. She was very ambitious for Egypt and began to make political deals with Rome, a rising power. v.18-19 The Syrian king began to attack Rome along the shores of Asia Minor 190 BC. He was defeated by the Roman General Lucius Scopio, and the terms of peace called for him to pay huge taxes. He was killed when he tried to plunder a temple for tax money. v.20 His son needed to pay the taxes. He sent his priminister to seize the money that was in the Temple treasury in Jerusalem. Shortly after that he was mysteriously poisoned (Seleucus IV Philopator 187-163 BC)... likely by the same priminister. ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES "a vile man" He was so evil that he became a type of anti-Christ. v.21 Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC) was the next king of Syria. He won his throne by flattery. Deuteronomy 4:25-31 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 31:16-22 And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath. So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites." v.22-23 Antiochus killed any people he perceived were a challenge to his reign. He murdered the High Priest Onias III. Jason his brother was made high priest by Antiochus. Jason sought to bring the Greek culture to the Jews. e.g. the Helenist and the Hebrew problem in Acts 6. He took wealth that he took from others and gave it away freely... developing friends. v.24 Antiochus hated the Jews because they resisted his attempt at Hellenizing his Kingdom. He killed and enslaved thousands of them. v.25 He attacked Egypt (Ptolemjy VI Philometor 181-145 BC) and defeated her. v.28-29 He again a third time attempts to attack Egypt, but the Roman navy fought him off. The Roman Senate sent the Roman navy to Alexandria that Antiochus had under seige. The Roman Lenius told him that he had to break off the attack... drew the circle around him and told him that he had to make up his mind before he left the circle or deal with the power of Roman. v.30-31 Antiochus was angry and frustrated by the Roman defense. He lashed out at Israel and on God's temple. His sacrifice of a pig on the holy altar and setup an idol to Zeus: this was "the abomination which maketh desolate." He then forced them to daily sacrifice pigs on the altar. Jewish boys who were circumcized were hung around their mother’s neck until they died. Antiochus is a symbolic Antichrist. The Antichrist will also stop the daily sacrifices and prayers in the temple and will pollute the sanctuary with the demand that he be worshipped. This will be the "abomination of desolation." Jesus said about this: Matt 24: "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand-- 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Rev. 12: 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. (kept 3 ½ years during the pouring out of His wrath. i.e. the final blasphemy that God tolerates it the Anti-Christ’s abomination. v.32 Judas Maccabaeus (The Hammer) and other young Jewish men were angered by the pollution of the temple. They took revenge on Syria. Just a few thousand Jews with sticks fought a gorilla warfare. On December 25, 165 they recleansed the temple and lit the candles and the oil lasted for 8 days though they only had enough for one day: Feast of Lights/Feast of Hanukkah. Jesus celebrated it in John 10: 22 "Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter." v.33-35 This prophecy concerns the plight of the Jews and the sufferings they have endured. They will still be in great danger until the end of the Great Tribulation. Though the United States has been a close ally of Israel, our country has lately been moving away from this position (because of our dependence on Arab oil). When we finally abandon Israel, Russia will feel free to attack her without any retaliation from the U.S. The Rest is about the "time of the end" or the Anti-Christ." v.36 The king described here is the Antichrist. He'll put himself forward and seek the people's worship and praise just as Satan has always craved worship (Isaiah 14:12-14, Matthew 4:8-10, II Thessalonians 2:4 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. "Indignation" here refers to the Great Tribulation. It's God's indignation against a sinning world (Isaiah 26:19-21). v.37 This Scripture has led many people to believe that the Antichrist will be an apostate Jew. He may be homosexual. The "desire of women" could refer to every Jewish woman's hope that she would bear the child who would bruise the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). Jesus was the Child who fulfilled this prophecy with His atoning death on the cross. So this verse could mean that the Antichrist will not regard God or Jesus. v.38 The Antichrist will worship and be obsessed with military force. He'll build a huge and expensive army equipped with tremendous military hardware. v.39 The Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel. He'll work out a Middle East peace plan that will divide the land of Israel for his gain. The covenant will be broken by the Antichrist after three and one-half years when he stops the sacrifices in the temple and demands that he himself be worshipped as God. At this point those Jews who are close to God will flee to the Jordanian rock city of Petra (Matthew 24:15-21, Isaiah 16:1-4, Revelation 12:14-17, [Sela is Petra]) v.40 The "chariots" will be tanks. Isaiah 11: 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Eze. 25:1-114: 31:14-23 v.41 The "glorious land" is the land of Israel. Ammon is Jordan and Iraq. v.43 The Antichrist will be at the borders of Libya and Ethiopia. It will probably be a planned attempt to conquer the continent of Africa. v.44 The Antichrist's European federation of nations begins to move against Africa, passing through Israel and taking Egypt. The Chinese will send their armies, along with the remnant of the Russian army, to battle his forces Revelation 16: 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. **The western powers are seen as corrupt... the Great Satan. There are fanatic Muslims in cell groups in the US. Chuck Smith was briefed on them by Israeli Intelligence: there are several groups just in Orange County. These armies will meet in the Valley of Megiddo for the great and final battle of Armageddon. The War of Armageddon Joel 3:1, 2, 12, 14 3:1 "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land. 12 Let the nations be aroused And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
v.45 The Antichrist will set up his throne in Jerusalem and will seek to rule the world from there. Jesus will destroy the Antichrist with the words from His mouth (Jude 14-15, Colossians 3:4, Revelation 19:11-17). Jesus wants us to understand the prophecies in Daniel (Matthew 24:15). Zech. 14: 1-3, 9 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. Rev. 19:11-21 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Psalm 118:10-12 10 All nations surrounded me; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 2 Thess. 2:8 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; Daniel 8:17, 19 17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision concerns the time of the end." 19 He said: "I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. Daniel 11:27 27 The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. Daniel 11:35 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. Daniel 11:40 40 "At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. Daniel 12:4 4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." Daniel 12:9 9 He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Daniel 12:13 13 "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." Time of Indignation Daniel 8:19 He said: "I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. Daniel 11:36 "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. "za’am" carries with it the idea of intense anger. Matthew 24:3-14 |