DANIEL - CHAPTER 11 - HISTORY FROM DAIRUS TO THE FUTURE ANTICHRIST
Daniel, Chapter 11
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Taught by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
HISTROY FROM DAIRIUS TO THE FUTURE ANTICHRIST
Chapter 11 continues with Daniel’s fourth vision. This is a continuation of the prophecy by visitation of an Angelic appearance. It has suited me to identify this Angel as the Angel of the Lord (The Messiah). It has now been five years since Gabriel visited him and gave him the vision of the seventy (70) weeks.
11: 1-2: “And in the first year of Dairius the Mede, I (The Angel speaking) arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. And now I will tell you the truth, Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia, and then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.”
The Angel of the Lord said that he had stood with Darius the Mede to confirm and strengthen him in his first year as king. When the Medo-Persians conquered Babylon and set up their kingdom, the demons took possession of this kingdom and manipulated it to try to destroy all the captive Jews within it borders. As we have studied these demons stirred up all the administrators and satraps of the kingdom to bring charges against Daniel to King Dairius. They probably intended to begin an extensive extermination of the Jews as soon as Daniel and his friends were killed in the lion’s den. But thanks to Daniel’s prayer, the angels of God defeated the demons that were in possession of the kingdom.
King Dairius was so impressed by seeing the supernatural deliverance of Daniel from the fiery furnace that he afterward began to adopt a pro-Jewish policy. Thus the Jews could live well, even in the land where they had been carried as captives. The Angel of the Lord took his stand to support Dairius and strengthen him. Dairius was a heathen king. Yet, the Lord strengthened this heathen king to do the Lord's Will for His Kingdom purposes.
In all of the verses from 11:3-35, we see how Daniel’s prophecies were fulfilled in history down to the last detail. These verses are concerned with the war between the king of the south, Egypt and the king of the North, Syria. The book of Daniel was recorded two hundred to four hundred years before the incidents of the prophecy actually took place. Skeptics, who do not believe that prophecy is possible, assert, “The book of Daniel is spurious, a fake prophecy which in reality was recorded after the things of the prophecy actually had happened. How otherwise could it be so accurate?”
Phase after phase of this prophecy was fulfilled in history! Thus the Word of God is true, and not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will fall to the ground.
God defeats the satanic rulers of certain kingdoms before the succeeding one can come to fulfill His prophetic word. He has already predicted the rise and fall of world empires in the times of the Gentiles, so to fulfill His Word, He must wage war against satanic forces who constantly seek to hinder such fulfillment.
The time of verses 11: 13-14 refers to Syria invading Egypt several times, like the flow of a tide. “Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the south; the violent ones among your people (Daniel’s people) will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down.”
At that time Israel was subject to Egypt, and the garrison of the Ptolemaic general Scopas was defending Jerusalem. Scopas showed much favor to the Jews, aiding them in refurbishing the temple and helping them in many other ways.
Nevertheless, when Syria invaded Egypt, many of the Jews stood with Syria against Egypt. Their plan was to take advantage of the conflict to drive Egypt from the country. But the plan ended in failure. Because of this behavior, Israel was branded a robber and an ungrateful nation.
(Vs.14) “…Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege mound, and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand.”
The Egyptian army of Scopas was defeated at the upper stream of the Jordan. Thus Syria came to possess all the regions of Palestine and even Gaza at the border of Egypt, just as Daniel had prophesied.
Then Rome enters the picture: (Vs. 16-17): “He who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. And he will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side.”
Then Syria, once it had crushed Egypt, brought to trial the Jews who had earlier rebelled against it, and Jerusalem once again came under the control of Antiochus III. Antiochus perceived the danger of Rome’s advance east from Italy. To secure his kingdom, he gave his beautiful daughter, Cleopatra, to the seven-year-old King Ptolemy V. Epiphanes of Egypt in marriage in 192 B.C. Her father hoped to gain control of the Egyptian throne through this marriage.
But Cleopatra sided with her husband, Ptolemy, against her father in several maters. Antiochus’ plan to make peace with Egypt failed.
11: 18-19:”…Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn. So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more.”
Eventually Antiochus gave up on Egypt and instead met with a Roman envoy that was traveling eastward. The envoy proposed to Antiochus that he should surrender and pay tribute to Rome. Antiochus answered proudly: “Asia has no interest in Rome, nor will she obey the command of Rome.” He later made an expedition west into Europe, but his campaign ended in failure.
11: 20: “Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though neither in anger nor in battle”.
He returned home disheartened from the failure of this campaign. Some time later he was murdered by an assassin while attempting to plunder a temple
After his death, Syria surrendered to Rome and paid a tribute of several thousand talents every year. Seleucus IV Philpater had succeeded to the throne. He sent a man name Heliodorus to be the tax collector for the Jewish nation. He was to seize the funds from the temple treasury in Jerusalem, but he died abruptly without any apparent cause. (2 Macc. 3:4- records that he was poisoned.)
11:21: “And in his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by flattery.”
“He makes a league with the high priest; deals deceitfully and becomes strong… Palestine was greatly reduced to poverty during the long wars”(Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible).
The rest of the chapter following verse 21 is the key to the prophecy in the book of Daniel. “The little horn which appears in Chapter 8: 9-14, 23-25 of this book, namely Antiochus Ephiphanes, arrives on the scene. He is a type of today’s antichrist. He was a king who arose from Syria, and he devastated the temple of Israel.
He was a contemptible person who did not rightfully inherit the throne. When Seleucus IV Philpater died unexpectedly, he left two sons behind, Demetrius, who was being held in Rome as a hostage. His second son, Seleucus was still a young boy.
Their Uncle Antiochus under the pretext of becoming his nephew’s guardian, hired a man named Andronicus to kill his young nephew.
11: 22: “And the overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant.”
Epiphanes struck Egypt with a mighty army in 170 B.C. and crushed its forces in the region between Gaza and the Nile delta. He murdered Onias, the high priest of Israel, breaking the treaty of alliance he had made with him. This is the one referred to by Daniel as “the prince of the covenant.”
11: 23: “And after an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people.”
Verses 24-35 describe the wickedness of his reign. Rome turned Ephiphanes back. On his way home he stopped and took out his vengeance on Jerusalem. He destroyed the temple, violating the former covenant. He suspended the daily sacrifice. He set up an altar to Zeus Olympius, the pagan god he worshipped. Worst of all he ordered a sow to be sacrificed under the abominable winged image.
The Jews arose in revolt under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers. During the revolt, eighty thousand Jews were killed, 40,000 were sold as slaves
Another 40,000 carried off as captives. This was the greatest tragedy Israel had ever suffered from its involvement in the war between the kings of the south and kings of the north. It was all prophesied centuries before by Daniel.
We often wonder how small forces of people are able to gain so much power in our nation. Verse 23 is the key to this. The power of the spirit-of-antichrist gives power to small forces of people.
Beginning with verse 36, the focus suddenly shifts to the antichrist that will appear at the end of time. Antiochus historically can be cautiously identified with verses 36-39. However, no one in history has fulfilled verses 40-45. Since these verses have not literally been fulfilled (as have all of the other prophecies of Daniel) these should be read as entirely shifted to a future king or antichrist.
11:36 is a clear description of the anti-christ. He will do as he pleases. He will exalt himself above all, claiming that he is divine. He will oppose the Lord God with unheard-of-things.
11: 37-39 foretell how the antichrist will arise. He will show no regard for the god of his father or for the desire of women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.
These are the scriptures that theologians project that the antichrist, like Antiochus Epiphanes, will come from Syria and will be a Jew. They believe he will appear on the European political scene as a prominent politician, and he will accomplish the unification of then European countries with his sternness and intrigue.
Daniel says that he will honor the god of forces, which means that he will worship satan. The god of forces refers to a god of war. He will not have a desire for women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. That he will not desire women is indicative of the power the spirit of anti-christ is giving to the "small groups" of homosexuals.
The Bible shows that he will honor his god with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. It also shows that he will build a strong fortress and conquer the whole world with the help of a foreign god. He will honor those who follow him, and he will distribute the land in return for a bribe.
The U.S.A. pays billions of dollars to all of the foreign nations as a bribe for their allegiance to our world governmental agenda. In ancient times, nations paid "tribute" to foreign kings to bribe them so their powerful army would not destroy them. This is now turned around. We pay "tribute" as a bribe and leverage to control foreign governments.
11:40-45: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south (Egypt) and the king of the north (Syria) push at him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be over thrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tiding out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great “fury to destroy, and utterly make away many.” He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him.”
As we look at the world today, we see the power of the Muslim Brotherhood supported by NATO behind the overthrow of Egypt, Libya, and some of the African nations. There is an overthrow in process as of this writing of Syria. Is NATO covertly involved in financing the overthrow of Syria? The United States of America is the financial and air-power behind NATO. We pay "tribute money" to all of the nations of NATO.
As all of Daniel’s prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter, we can expect the same for this prophecy. I have not chosen to present the doctrine of Dispensationalism established in the 1800’s by John Nelson Darby and known as the Brethren Movement. It is worthy of study and is considered the doctrine of Evangelicals. Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible has a clear deposition on the doctrine of Dispensationalism as well as Paul Yonggi Cho in their study of Daniel. Matthew Henry wrote his commentary in the 1700’s and does not present the view of Dispensationalism. F.F. Bruce Bible Commentary in chapter Eleven does not present the view of Dispensationalism. Neither do these commentaries dispute it.
Taught by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Bibliography as noted. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I have gleaned.