CHAPTER 11 THE COURSE OF HISTORY. In this most remarkable chapter we are given an outline of history from the time of Daniel to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and then briefly to the end of time. It first covers the period while Israel were still under the wrath of God up to ‘the latter time of t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGS OF PERSIA. “And now I will show you the truth. Behold there will stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than all of them, and when he has established himself strongly through his riches he will stir up all against the realm of Greece.” ‘And now I will show... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GROWTH AND DIVISION OF THE GRECIAN EMPIRE. ‘And a mighty king will stand up who will rule with great dominion and do according to his will.' This was the final result of the acts of Xerxes, and of those who followed him, the rise of this mighty king of Greece, Alexander the Great, who would ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he shall stand up his kingdom will be broken and will be divided towards the four winds of heaven. But not to his posterity, nor with similar dominion to that with which he ruled, for his kingdom will be plucked up even for others beside these.' This is not the epitaph that Alexander would... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the king of the south will be strong, and one of his princes, and he will be strong above him and have dominion. His dominion will be a great dominion.' The king described here was Ptolemy I, one of Alexander's most powerful generals, who proclaimed himself king of Egypt in 304 BC. He was very... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And at the end of years (i.e. after some years) they will join themselves together, and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make uprightness (i.e. a friendly alliance making things ‘right'), but she will not retain the strength of her arm, and neither will he... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But out of a shoot from her roots one will stand up in his place, who will come to the army and will enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and will deal with them and will prevail.' But those who perpetrated these evil deeds were themselves dealt with, for Berenice's brother Ptolemy II... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he will also carry captive into Egypt their gods, with their molten images, and with their desirable vessels of silver and gold.' This was the measure of the victory. It was overwhelming enough for him to march off with their gods and temple furniture. It was total success. The Egyptians were... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he will come into the land of the king of the south, but he will return to his own land.' Eventually Seleucus II counterattacked in around 240BC, but unsuccessfully, and had to withdraw defeated.... [ Continue Reading ]
ANTIOCHUS III (FATHER OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES) (DANIEL 11:10). ‘And his sons will be stirred up (or ‘will strive' or ‘will make war') and will gather a multitude of great forces, and he will relentlessly come on, and overthrow, and pass through. And he will return and make war (or ‘be stirred up'),... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the king of the south will be filled with fury, and will come out and fight with him, even with the king of the north, and he will set forth (‘raise') a great multitude, and the multitude will be given into his hand.' Angry at what had happened and in an attempt to recapture his lost territory... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the multitude will be lifted up, and his heart will be exalted, and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail (‘be strong').' Ptolemy IV' successful army were elated, and Ptolemy himself was filled with pride at his achievement, as his army slaughtered the enemy and put them... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the king of the north will return, and will raise a multitude greater than the former, and he will come on at the end of the times, even years, with a great army and much substance.' Kings like Antiochus III lived to fight and conquer. Thus on his defeat he returned to his land and gathered an... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And in those times many will rise up against the king of the south. Also the sons of those who make a breach among your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision. But they will fall.' Antiochus was now in league with Philip of Macedon, and may well have been in touch with Egyptian dis... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So the king of the north will come, and throw up siege works, and take a well-fenced city. And the arms of the south will not withstand, nor the people of his choice, nor will there be any strength to withstand.' Most see this as a reference to the capture of Sidon by Antiochus. The boy king Ptole... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But he who comes against him will do according to his own will, and none will stand before him. And he will stand in the land of Desire and in his hand will be destruction (‘finishing').' Antiochus' advance into Palestine was irresistible. The Egyptian forces could not hold him back, and Israel su... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he will set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him, and he will do his pleasure, and he will give him the daughter of women to corrupt her, but she will not stand, nor be for him.' Antiochus came against Egypt with all his strength, including ‘uprigh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘After this he will turn his face to the coastlands and will take many, but a prince will cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Yes, moreover, he will make his reproach turn on him.' This probably refers mainly to the coastlands of Asia Minor, although he did enter Greek territory, but his ac... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he will turn his face towards the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and will not be found.' In view of his current weakness dissent broke out at home and he had to deal with it by force, subduing fortresses in his own land. And then came his ignominious end described ab... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then will stand up in his place one who will cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom, but within few days he will be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle.' This was Antiochus III's elder son, Seleucus IV, who succeeded his father. He taxed his people, including Israel, so he... [ Continue Reading ]
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES - THE SCOURGE OF ISRAEL. Apart from Daniel 11:20, the remaining verses in the chapter deal with the life of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, second son of Antiochus III, who usurped the throne from his brother's son, Demetrius, and persecuted Israel, leading on into a mysterious figure w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And in his place will stand up a contemptible person, to whom they had not given the honour of the kingdom. But he will come in time of security and will obtain the kingdom by flatteries.' ‘A contemptible person.' On Seleucus' death the throne rightly belonged to one of his sons, Demetrius,who had... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And with the arms of a flood will they be swept away from before him, and will be broken. Yes, even the prince of the covenant.' Antiochus IV swept away all opposition from before him, overflowing them with an overwhelming flood, breaking them like a broken vessel. This included the Israelite high... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And from the time that a league is made with him he will work deceitfully, for he will come up and become strong with a small people.' This probably refers to his behaviour with Israel. He removed Onias and made his agreement with Jason, the replacement high priest (2Ma 4:7-22), and then rescinded... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In time of security will he come even on the fattest places of the province, and he will do what his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers. He will scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance. Yes he will devise his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.' This continues... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army, but he will not stand, for they will devise devices against him. Yes, those who eat of his meat portion will destroy h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as for both these kings, their hearts will be to do mischief, and they will speak lies at one table. But it will not prosper, for yet the end will be at the time appointed.' Ptolemy now turned to Antiochus who offered him assistance against his rival, even though that rivalry was partly foster... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he will return to his own land with great substance, and his heart will be against the holy covenant. And he will do his pleasure and return to his own land.' His mission to Egypt having been mainly successful he returned to his own land loaded with treasures. But news had reached Israel that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘At the time appointed he will return and come into the south, but it will not be in the latter time as it was in the former. For ships of Kittim will come against him.' We are not being given the whole history of war between Egypt and Syria and some of it is now skipped over. What mattered to the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore he will be grieved, and will return, and have indignation against the holy covenant, and will do his pleasure. He will even return and have regard to those who forsake the holy covenant.' Behind this there is a history. Threatened by both Rome, who had destroyed his father, and Egypt who... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And arms will stand on his part, and they will profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and will take away that which is continual, and they will set up the Abomination that Appals.' These activities were then followed by the setting of sentries in the temple itself, (‘arms will stand on his part... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And such as do wickedly against the covenant will he pervert by flatteries. But the people who know their God will be strong and will so act. And those who are wise among the people will instruct many. Yet they will fall by the sword, and by flame, and by imprisonment, and by being spoiled, for man... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now when they shall fall they will be helped with a little help. But many will join themselves to them with flatteries. And some of those who are wise will fall, to refine them, and to purify them, and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for the time appointed.' In th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING AT THE TIME OF THE END (DANIEL 11:36). ‘And the king will do according to his will'. The question is, which king does this refer to? Antiochus Epiphanes has never been called the king. He is ‘the contemptible person to whom had not been given the honour of the kingdom'. And he is simply r... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Nor will he regard the gods of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he will magnify himself above all.' This one will thrust aside any gods connected with his family, or his forebears, nor will he follow any gods or goddesses or aspects of the occult, that women particularl... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But in his place he will honour the god of fortresses, and he will honour a god whom his fathers did not know, with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. And he will deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. Whoever acknowledges him he will increase... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And at the time of the end the king of the south will butt at him (or gore him - the word depicts the attack of a wild animal), and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, and with horsemen and with many ships, and he will enter into the countries, and will overf... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He will stretch forth his hand also on all countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. But he will have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And the Libyans and Ethiopians will be at his steps.' All the countries of the Near East will be sub... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But tidings out of the east and out of the north will trouble him, and he will go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many, and he will plant the tents of his palace (his palatial tents) between the sea and the mountain of the delight of holiness. Yet he will come to his end a... [ Continue Reading ]