Daniel 11: Prophecies of
the Mede/Persian, Greek, Roman, and the End of Times Events
- Setting
- Daniel
is near the end of his life and approaching close to 90 years of age.
- King
Cyrus, the Persian, is no longer the ruling King of Babylon.
- King
Darius the Mede becomes the ruling King after Cyrus’s death.
- This
chapter is written in the first year of the reign of Darius.
- Overview
- This chapter is
centered around Israel, as it shows the conflicts of Israel past (the
first 69 weeks or 483 years) and the conflicts of Israel at the End of
Times (the last 1 week or 7 years).
- Israel is
located between Egypt and Syria. Many of the Battles between
the Kings of the North and the Kings of the South of this prophecy
occurred in Israel.
- The Persian
Empire (referred to in verses 1 and 2)
- 539 to 537 BC -
Cyrus the Great
- 536 to 530 BC -
Darius
- 529 to 522 BC -
Cambyses
- 522 BC -
Psuedo-Smerdis (an imposter for Artexerxes)
- 521 to 486 BC
Darius I Hystaspes
- 486 to 465 BC -
Xerxes I (also known as Ahasuerus, the King mentioned in the Book of
Esther)
- 465 to 425 BC -
Artaxerxes Longimanus
- The Greek Empire
(referred to in verses 3 and 4)
- 334 to 323 BC -
Philip the Macedonian (the father of Alexander the Great) and Alexander
the Great
- The Greek Empire
under the Seleucid-Ptolemy Rivalry (referred to in verses 5 through 35).
- This was a
period of time with a great rivalry between Syria and Egypt which found
Israel being the buffer area between the two divisions of the Greek
Empire.
- We now find 400
silent years between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
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Daniel
11
|
Kings
of the North
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Daniel
11
|
Kings
of the South
|
|
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Seleucus
I Nicator
(312 -
281 BC)
Antiochus
| Soter
(281 -
262 BC)
|
|
Ptolemy
I Soter
(323-
285 BC)
|
|
|
Antiochus
II Theos
(262-246
BC)
|
|
Ptolemy
II Philadelphus
(285-246
BC)
Note:
the Septuagint translation (‘LXX’) was written during this reign.
This became the Christian’s Bible
|
|
|
Seleucus
II Callinicus
(246-227
BC)
Seleucus
III Soter
(227-223
BC)
|
|
Ptolemy
III Euergetes
(246-221
BC)
|
|
|
vv>
10-19
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Antiochus
III the Great
(223-187
BC)
|
|
Ptolemy
IV Philopater
(221-204
BC)
|
|
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Seleucus
IV Philopater
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Ptolemy
V Epiphanes
(204-181
BC)
|
|
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Antiochus
IV Epiphanes
(175-163
BC)
|
|
Ptolemy
VI Philometer
(181-145
BC)
|
- The Willful King
(referred to in verses 36 through 39)
- These verses
find fulfillment in both Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the future
AntiChrist.
- The Armageddon
Scenario, the war to end all wars, can be found in verses 40 through 45.
- There are many
claims that Daniel was written after all the events occurred because of
the accuracy and detail Daniel uses in his writings. (Matthew
24:16)
- There are 135
detailed prophecies between verses 1 through 35.
- Daniel 11:5-35
covers 200 years of history between the Kings of the North and the King
of the South.
- Breakdown of the
Verses.
- Verses 1 - 5
- These 4 Kings
were more than likely the 4 Kings to reign after Daniel’s death.
They include Cambyses, Artaxerxes, Darius I, and Xerses.
Xerses was a very rich King compared to the others
- The Mighty King
is Alexander the Great.
- Alexander died
in his early 30’s without a qualified heir to succeed him.
- Alexander had
a son named Hercules who died before Alexander did. He
also had another son named Alexander who did not want to rule as King.
- Alexander’s
kingdom was divided into 4 parts: Cassander (Macedonia and Greece),
Lysimachus (Thrace - Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey), Bithynial (most of
Asia Minor - Turkey), Ptolemy (Egypt, Cyrene/Libya, Arabia Petraea),
and Seleucus (Syria and the lands east to India).
- The King of the
South always refers to Egypt and the King of the North always refers to
Syria.
- ‘King of the
South’ - the Ptolemies.
- There were 6
Kings under the Ptolemaic Dynasty.
- The Septuagint
is written in Greek. It is the pre-Christian translation of
the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament. Greek is the current
language of the land at this time. The translation takes
place during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC).
- ‘King of the
North’ - the Seleucids.
- There were 8
Kings under the Seleucus Dynasty.
- Verse 6.
- Bernice was the
daughter of the King of the South, Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
The son of the King of the North (Antiochus II) marries
Bernice. Both Kings die and Bernice rules in place of her
father. There was great confusion during this period and Bernice
was eventually murdered.
- Verse 7-10.
- Ptolemy III
Euergetes is the brother of the murdered Bernice. He invades
Syria from the south, seizes part of Antioch, and invades Seleucus II’s
empire as far as Babylon. 2 years later, Seleucus marches
south against Egypt and suffers a large loss. He returns
home with a small remnant of his army.
- Verses 11 - 20.
- Ptolemy IV
marches through Judea and he was met and defeated by Antiochus III.
Later in 219 BC, Antiochus was defeated 20 miles south of
Gaza. Ptolemy IV toured Israel, including the city of
Jerusalem, but he was prevented from entering the Holy of Holies by a
temporary paralysis. After the death of Ptolemy IV, his 4
year old son, Ptolemy V became King. The north under
Antiochus III moved against the South, who then annexed Israel at this
time. There was no one who could stop Antiochus III.
- Egypt calls
for help from Rome after the King of the North attacks them.
Antiochus III sends 300 ships to battle, but he is still
soundly defeated. The Romans then tax Antiochus III 2550
talents and an additional 1000 talents per year.
- Cleopatra I is
the daughter of Antiochus III and is given in marriage to the King of
the South (Ptolemy V Epiphanes) around 197 BC while being 10 years old.
- The Queen
Cleopatra of Egypt that we are familiar is Cleopatra VII.
- Verses 21 - 26.
- Antiochus IV
Epiphanes enters the scene. He is the brother of Seleucus IV
and the youngest son of Antiochus III. ‘Epiphanes’ means
‘the glorious one’. He gains the throne through flattery and
intrigue. He was known to rob the rich. Ptolemy
VI and Ptolemy VII are engaged in a power battle for the control of
Egypt. They both rise against Antiochus Epiphanes.
Antiochus Epiphanes defeats Israel as he is passing through
to Egypt.
- Antiochus IV
Epiphanes comes in peaceably. He eventually tries to impose
Greece upon the whole world just as Alexander the Great. He was
able to get the Jews to conform to the Greek Culture until the revolt of
the Maccabees.
- Verse 27-30.
- After the death
of Ptolemy IV Philopater’s mother, Cleopatra, he receives bad advice
about Antiochus Epiphanes and is defeated. Antiochus
Epiphanes takes Ptolemy IV Philopater under his protection.
- Verse 27
refers to the many spoken lies at the negotiation tables.
- Antiochus
Epiphanes makes a second campaign against Egypt and fails to take
Alexandria. Roman ships come against him in battle and he is
humiliated in defeat. The Jews hear of his defeat and they
celebrate even as Antiochus Epiphanes returns to Israel.
This causes him to be angry and he takes out his frustration
against the Jews.
- Antiochus IV
Epiphanes performed many atrocities amongst the Jewish people, which
was covered in an earlier lesson.
- Verses 31-32.
- Antiochus
Epiphanes brings a pig into the temple, he has the pig slaughtered on
the altar, and he dedicates the sacrifice to the pagan god Zeus Olympus.
He then makes a decree to end the daily Jewish sacrifices.
The Jews also refuse to enter the temple as it has been
defiled and an idol has been placed in the Holy of Holies.
This all occurs in 168 BC. This will also be a
foreshadow of what the AntiChrist will do at the End of Times.
- The Jewish
Feast of Hanukkah celebrates the rebellion of the armies of Judas
Maccabeus against the Syrian Empire. The Maccabees captured the
Temple Mount and they cleansed the Sanctuary with a one day supply of
oil which miraculously burned for eight days to keep the temple lights
lit for the purification process. (Matthew 24:15-16,
Matthew 24:21-22).
- This period of
time appears to not have been fulfilled yet as the temple was destroyed
in 70 AD and needs to take place at the End of Times.
- Conclusion
- God’s word is
reliable.
- God moves armies
and he shapes the will of others. God is big enough to take
care of us if he can take care of history.
- God has
fore-knowledge as he is not confined by space or time.
- Only God knows
the events of the future and only he is able to foretell them.
(Daniel 2:22, 2 Peter 1:19-21).
- No matter how
difficult the times, God will have his faithful remnant and God will keep
his covenant with his people to the very end.
- Survival of the
Jews is a miracle as they have been displaced many times through history
but their language was never lost. To defeat God’s plan you
need to defeat Israel. (Jeremiah 31:37)
- Cain and Abel.
- Noah and the
Flood.
- A Pharaoh
arises that forgets about Joseph and orders all the Jewish babies to be
killed.
- King Herod
orders all the Jewish boys who are 2 years and younger to be killed upon
hearing of the birth of Jesus.
- Antiochus IV
Epiphanes is a foreshadow of the AntiChrist who is yet to come.
