Daniel 11:1-45 Embracing What s Ahead in Humility Michael Silva / May 27, 2018 Opening: Joke The preacher, in his Sunday sermon, used "Forgive Your Enemies" as his subject. After a long sermon, he asked how many were willing to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands. Not satisfied he preached for another twenty minutes and repeated his question. This time he received a response of about 80 percent. Still unsatisfied, he spoke for another 15 minutes and repeated his question. With all thoughts now on Sunday dinner, all responded except one elderly lady in the rear. "Mrs. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?" "I don't have any." "Mrs. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?" "Ninety three." "Mrs. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how a person can live to be ninety-three, and not have an enemy in the world." The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle, very slowly turned around and said: "It's easy, I just outlived them all. v Today in our passage we are looking at enemies of Israel and what s ahead in God s long timeline. Introduction: We are nearing the end of our study in the historical and prophetic of... Daniel. 1. Key Themes and Topics in this book include a) Faith b) The Power of Prayer c) Not Compromising d) The Sovereignty of God God is in control, even when we are not. 2. These last three-chapter Daniel all go together. a) Chapter 10 is the introduction to Daniel s final vision. Chap 11 is the final vision, and Chap 12 is the conclusion of that vision and God s messages to Daniel.
Let s begin by reading: Daniel 11:1-4 (NKJV) i Embracing What s Ahead in Humility 1. CONTEXT/HISTORY: The period of captivity for the people of Israel is now officially over, though a majority of the Jewish people are still living in Babylon and Persia. a) The focus is now on the nation Israel s future. 2. I ve summarized our passage today with Embracing What s Ahead in Humility. (1) [Chart that align Chapters & Outline] Daniel 11:1-4 1. In the first year of Darius the Mede, who was really Cyrus, a decree had been made allowing the Jews to return to their home to rebuild Jerusalem. a) We learn here that Darius had been strengthened supernaturally during that time by the same angel who was speaking to Daniel. b) Interesting, the Holy Spirit fills us and strengthens us. AND Angels can surround us and strengthen us as well. c) God has amazing ways of protecting and caring for us. d) 2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 2. In the secession of legitimate kings in Persia starting from Cyrus the fourth king was Artaxerxes, whom history confirms was exceeding rich. This is the king in the book of Esther. a) Artaxerxes did try to unsuccessfully come against the growing Greek Empire who would rise to power. b) This mighty Greek king was Alexander the Great who had conquered much of the known world, including the Medo-Persian Empire. 3. The ancient historian Josephus records the interesting arrival of Alexander the Great to Jerusalem, and how he was shown the Book of Daniel by the high priest (whom Alexander had previously seen in a vision). Alexander was so impressed that he spared Jerusalem and granted it religious toleration. 1 a) But after Alexander s death in 323 BC his kingdom did not go to one of his heirs, instead it was split in four between his 4 generals. Daniel 11:5-20 1. Verses 5 20 comprise a history of the ongoing conflicts between two of the four divisions of the Greek Empire, the Ptolemaic (Egyptian) and the Seleucid (Syrian), from the death of Alexander (323 B.C.) until the 1 Guzik, D. (2013). Daniel (Da 11:3 4). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik. Page 2
reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 163 B.C.). Embracing What s Ahead in Humility a) The dynasties of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies fought for some 130 years. The stronger of the two always held dominion over the Holy Land. b) The revelation was limited to these two divisions because [Israel], the home of God s people, lay between them and was continually involved in their later history. 2 2. In Vs 6 Daughter from the king of the south History confirms that in an attempt to form an alliance between these two warring kingdoms, Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus Theos of Syria. a) Antiochus was already married to Laodice, whom he divorced. After two years Ptolemy Philadelphus died; so Antiochus Theos put away Berenice with her son and took back his first wife, Laodice. b) Laodice, scorned, in turn poisoned Antiochus Theos and ordered the death of Berenice and her son. Then Laodice put her own son, Seleucus Callinicus, on the throne. 3 3. In Vs 7-9 But from a branch of her roots the brother in Berenice Ptolemy III back in Egypt was angered by the death of his sister and nephew, he gathered an army and attacked the king of the North, Seleucus Callinicus. a) During that military campaign, Ptolemy III reclaimed 2,500 religious idols, or gods that had been taken away from Egypt in a previous battle. 4. Vs 10-15 predict the back and forth battles between these two kingdoms and their successive lines of kings. 5. In Vs 16 these prophesies will be centered around the Glorious Land that s Israel. a) I visited Israel in 2010 and I can confirm the Angel s declaration it is indeed a glorious land. b) The prophesy is further confirmation of God s promise that He would bring His people back into the Promised Land. 6. In Vs 17 A daughter from the North to destroy the South Antiochus in the north gave his daughter to the house of Ptolemy, a marriage intended to strengthen peaceful relations. a) But what Antiochus was really planning was to place his daughter inside the palace of the Ptolemys to act as a spy. The woman s name? Cleopatra. b) It was a good idea until Cleopatra actually fell in love and refused to spy on the house of Ptolemy. 4 c) Satan wants to see you married to the world, in unholy unions with unholy things. i) First, so he can spy on you, but he ultimately wants to see you distracted, divided, or destroyed! 2 Miller, S. R. (1994). Daniel (Vol. 18, p. 293). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers. 3 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, p. 176). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 4 Courson, J. (2006). Jon Courson s application commentary: Volume two: Psalms-Malachi (pp. 738 739). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. Page 3
ii) Is there anything in your life where you are letting Satan in the back door of your house through an unholy union? iii) Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. iv) Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in the dark; They say, Who sees us? and, Who knows us? 7. Many in the nation of Israel were slain during this time. They incurred untold suffering from both the kings of the north and the kings of the south. Daniel 11:21-28 Antiochus IV Epiphanes 1. Especially significant is the fact that from the Seleucid kingdom eventually would appear the evil Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the little horn of chap. 8. a) Verses 21-28 describe the campaign of Antiochus and his victory over the king of Egypt, which brought him much riches and prestige. 5 b) Antiochus Epiphanes is important, but mostly as a historical preview of the Antichrist. This is why so much space is given to describing the career of one evil man because he prefigures the ultimate evil man. c) Antiochus Epiphanes is the trailer released well before the Antichrist, who is like the feature. 6 d) Antiochus Epiphanes came to the throne in 175 B.C. He is called vile because of his blasphemies. i) He came to the throne with a program of peace. (The Antichrist will come to power in the same way. He will introduce the Great Tribulation with three and one-half years of peace.) Antiochus was a deceiver and a flatterer. 7 2. In Vs 23 speaks of the league he will form, like the ten toes of the statue in Chap 2 and the ten horns in Chap 7, foreshadowing those nations and leaders who unit with the Antichrist under his leadership in the End Times. Daniel 11:29-30 1. Antiochus made a second campaign against Egypt but was not successful due to the navy of Rome, ships of Cyprus. 5 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, p. 182). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 6 Guzik, D. (2013). Daniel (Da 11:36). Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik. 7 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, p. 180). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Page 4
Daniel 11:31 1. Antiochus came against Jerusalem in 170 B.C., at which time over one hundred thousand Jews were slain! 2. He took away the daily sacrifice from the temple, offered the blood of a swine upon the altar, and set up an image of Zeus/Jupiter to be worshiped in the holy place of the temple of God. a) This was an abomination that makes desolate, but it was not the abomination to which our Lord Jesus referred (Matt 24:15) which was future when He was on earth and is still future in our day. i) It is the abomination which Antichrist will set up. Antiochus set up an image of Jupiter in the holy place, and the Antichrist will probably set up an image of himself in the holy place. 8 Daniel 11:35 1. The time of the end leaps forward in prophecy from Antiochus Epiphanes to the Antichrist. a) We move now from the history to the future. All of this prophecy was in the future when Daniel gave it some is now history and some is yet future. 9 Daniel 11:36 1. Shift to the Antichrist. From our vantage point, history has ended, and prophecy begins. 2. 3 ½ years into his peace agreement Antichrist will break the treaty, exalt himself and seize all power and control over the world. Daniel 11:37 1. He will abandon the faith of his family Some commentators wonder if he could he be of Jewish descent? 2. He will not have the desire of women, he could be a homosexual. Daniel 11:38-39 1. Antichrist s gods will be wealth and military might. 8 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, pp. 182 183). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 9 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, p. 184). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Page 5
Daniel 11:40-45 1. In these verses the king of the North and the king of the South are Israel s enemies that surround her. a) It will be comprised of the Arab countries that surround Israel and from Ezekiel 37 39, we know that the king of the north also includes Magog modern day Russia who is a known enemy of the Jews. 2. In Vs 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver a) Revelation 13:16 17 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 3. In Vs 45 The seas refer to the Mediterranean Sea, and the glorious holy mountain is Jerusalem. a) In other words, at that time Antichrist will establish his headquarters for world conquest between the Mediterranean Sea and Jerusalem. b) However, instead of ruling from there he will be destroyed by the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:17 20). c) Evil will have taken over, and only in the personal coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom will any on this earth be delivered and saved. 10 Conclusion: What s the big take away from this passage? 1. Turn to 1 Peter 5:5b 11 a) Antichrist will exalt himself but the humble will receive grace. b) Exalted in due time God s in control of all history and where we are headed. We can trust Him! c) Watch out for a very real danger the devil. d) Resist with Faith! e) We are not alone, others are suffering too. f) But God will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you! 10 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Prophets (Daniel) (electronic ed., Vol. 26, p. 190). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Page 6
Invitation: Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. i All scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Page 7