AN EXPOSITION OF CHAPTER 11 OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL – BLOG 1
May 17. 2011
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God’s prophecies He has fulfilled in the past are assurance to each new generation He will perform those yet to be fulfilled.
Isaiah 41:18-23 – I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. [19] I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: [20] That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done
this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. [21] Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. [22] Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. [23] Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or
do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
Daniel’s Book was written between 587 B.C. and 537 B.C.
Chapter 11 Has Two Parts:
Part 1 – Daniel 11:1-35 covers the time from Darius the Mede through Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.).
Part 2 – Daniel 11:36 to 12:2 covers the last Gentile ruler, who is in power at the 2nd Advent of Jesus the Messiah.
DANIEL 11:1 – Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
The “1” is not Daniel, but a royal heavenly personage from Chapter 10 who came to him.
Daniel 10:20,21 – Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. [21] But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.
Darius the Median had previously conquered the kingdom of Babylon within the same year of Daniel 11:1.
Daniel 5:30,31 – In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. [31] And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
DANIEL 11:2 – And now will I shew thee the truth.
Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
The three kings prophesied by Daniel to chronologically “stand up” as kings were Ahasuerus(Cambyses), Artaxerxes(Pseudo-Smerdis), and Darius(Darius Hystaspes).
Ezra 4:6 – And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
Ezra 4:7 – And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
Ezra 4:24 –Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The fourth king was Xerxes. During his reign the Persian Kingdom reached its zenith in riches, territory, and military might. But when he invaded Greece he met his Waterloo at Salamis, and the kings who followed him ruled a kingdom, it was no longer a world power of any consequence.
The Grecian king stirred up by Xerxes was the Macedonian Alex ander the Gre
at, who swept across the vast territory of the crumbling Persian Kingdom at a rapid pace like a leopard with wings. Alexander and his Grecian Kingdom are described in detail in Daniel 11:3.
DANIEL 11:3 – And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
Alexander invaded Persia in 334 B.C. to avenge the wrongs inflicted by Xerxes in his previous invasion of Greece. Alexander was the mighty king who stood up against Persia. In Daniel 8, Persia was the ram, Grecia the rough he goat, and the goat’s great horn was Alexander. In Daniel 7, Persia was the bear and Grecia the leopard.
Daniel 8:21 – And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Daniel 7:6 – After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
DANIEL 11:4 – And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
It took Alexander 10-years to eliminate the Persian Empire and establish the Greek Empire which was even larger then the Persia. Only after his men refused to go any further did Alexander return to Babylon to solidify his conquests. He planned to establish Babylon as the capital of his new kingdom.
Before Alexander could follow through with his plans he died in Babylon, almost reaching age of 33. After his death his generals fought over his kingdom. Four generals took control of Alexander’s new kingdom.
None of Alexander’s posterity inherited any part of his kingdom.
Four winds signify all directions. His kingdom was divided among his four generals.
After Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was fought over by his generals for a period of 20 years. Four generals emerged as head of his kingdom,
1.
Cassander assumed rule over Macedonia and Greece;
2. Lysimacus took control of Thrace, Bithynia and most of Asia Minor;
3. Selecus took Syria and the lands to the east including Babylonia;
4. Ptolemy established rule over Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia Petraea.
These four generals became the kings of their individual land divisions. They are found in Daniel 8 and 7.
They are the four who stood up after Alexander died, and the four heads on the Grecian leopard.
Daniel 8:22 – Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Daniel 7:6 – After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
The many historical kings who ruled over the initial Syria Division of Selecus were called “the king of the north” through the remaining verses in Chapter 11.
The historical kings who ruled over Ptolemy’s initial Egypt Division were called “the king of the south” through the remaining verses of Chapter 11. The epic of the kings of the north and south begins in Daniel 11:5.
DANIEL 11:5 – And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
The king of the South (Egypt, which included today’s Israel) was Ptolemy I Soter (Savior) (323-285). Ptolemy aided Selecus in regaining his kingdom from a general Antigonus, who attemped to reestablish Alexander’s vast Empire under his own authority,
One of his princes: Selecus I Nicator (312-281 B.C.) was ousted by Antigonus and fled to Ptolemy, there as one of Ptolemy’s generals, they defeated Antigonus. Selecus regained his kingdom, Selecus according to Daniel would become King of the North.
The final battle took place at Ipsus in Phrygia, 301 B.C., between two camps of the “successors” (diodochoi) of Alexander the Great, part of a struggle that accelerated the dismemberment of Alexander’s empire begun after his death.
A 302 B.C. coalition representing Lysimachus, king of Thrace, Seleucus I Nicator of Babylon, Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt, and Cassander of Macedonia moved against Antigonus I Monophthalmus, king in Asia Minor, and his son Demetrius I Poliorcetes. Although the combined strength of Seleucus and Lysimachus in troops was only slightly inferiorto the 70,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 horses of Antigonus, it was the allies’ superiority in elephants that proved invaluable for victory. The elephants prevented Demetrius, who had pursued too far after defeating the opposing cavalry, from returning to rescue his father. Antigonus was killed, Demetrius fled, and Asia Minor was added to the dominions of Lysimachus.
Selecus was able to secure the greater kingdom at
the expense of Ptolemy, who initially aided him.
A long series of historical conflicts were prophesied between the king of the north and the king of the south from Daniel 11:5 to 11:20. The details of the fulfillment of these prophecies when they occurred were so accurate that Bible critics claimed
they were written after they actually occurred. The verse 20 historical king is the last before Antiochus Epiphanes.
DANIEL 11:20 – Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
Seleucus IV Philopator (187-175 B.C.) took the throne. Forced to pay tribute to Rome in the amount of 1000 talents annually, he taxed all his domain. He raised special taxes on the Jews administered by Heliodorus (2 Mac 3:7), Heliodorus plundered the Temple in Jerusalem. Selecus Philopater suddenly died after that, some suspect he was poisoned by Heliodorus.
The Rise of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
DANIEL 11:21 to 35 specifically refers to Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king who reigned from 175-164 B.C.
THIS BEGINS THE HISTORICAL REIGN OF THIS VILE PERSON WHO HAS A PERSONAL PROFILE LIKE THE FUTURE ANTICHRIST. DANIEL GIVES A DETAILED PROPHECY OF HIS LIFE FROM 175 to 164 B.C. ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES WAS THAT VILE PERSON.
DANIEL 11:21 – And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
DANIEL 11:35 ENDS THE HISTORICAL TIMES OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES (175 TO 164 B.C.) AND THE JEWISH MACCABEES (165 TO 129 B.C.).
DANIEL 11:35 – And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Verse 35 says the time of the end is yet for a time appointed, and verse 36 begins to describe the principle figure who will institute it, the last king of the north who we identify as the Antichrist, was NOT Antiochus Epiphanes.
Daniel’s prophecies of the Persian kings, Alexander, his four generals who split his kingdom into four divisions, the times of the kings of the north and south through the end of the reign of king of the north Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Maccabees, were fulfilled to the letter, as will be the last king of Chapter 11, who is still future, and is the Antichrist ruling over the same general area as the Persian Kings and Alexander.
DANIEL 11:36 TO 12:2 BEGINS AN EXPOSITION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERISTICS AND ACTIONS OF ANTICHRIST UP TO MESSIAH’S SECOND EVENT AT ARMAGEDDON. I WILL BEGIN THIS DISCOURSE ON BLOG 2.
DANIEL 11:36 – And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.