Daniel 11: Prophecies of the Mede/Persian, Greek, Roman, and the End of Times Events

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.
•  

Daniel 11	Kings of the North		Daniel 11	Kings of the South
5	Seleucus I Nicator (312 - 281 BC) Antiochus | Soter (281 - 262 BC)		5	Ptolemy I Soter (323- 285 BC)
6	Antiochus II Theos (262-246 BC)		6	Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC) Note: the Septuagint translation (‘LXX’) was written during this reign.   This became the Christian’s Bible
7-10	Seleucus II Callinicus (246-227 BC) Seleucus III Soter (227-223 BC)		7-8	Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221 BC)
vv> 10-19	Antiochus III the Great (223-187 BC)		11-12	Ptolemy IV Philopater (221-204 BC)
20	Seleucus IV Philopater		17	Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-181 BC)
21-35	Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC)		25	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.