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Introduction.
Before
I begin, please let me explain that I am just a normal, average Christian, with
a Bible, a history book or two, some other reference books, and a desire to
understand what God is saying. I do not claim to have found the final, perfect
explanation for Daniel's prophecies, and I hope that you the Reader will pursue
this matter much further than I have done. I would also like to mention a huge
debt of gratitude to a number of friends and Bible scholars who have helped me
with comments and notes over the years, especially Mrs. Browne, whose dedication
to the Bible is outstanding and whose help and advice has been invaluable
through the years.
The
following quick glance at the whole book of Daniel is not supposed to be a
detailed reference to all the prophecies. Some of the prophecies in chapter nine
I have covered in more detail in a separate essay, while other parts of the
whole book are not prophetic, and have therefore been left out, except for a
short summary.
Two things ought to be mentioned before we go any further. First of all, the prophecies of Daniel do not stand alone. They are linked to other prophecies which God has given before and also after Daniel. In earlier parts of the Bible God predicted such things as a Flood, some 120 years before it occurred, and also the coming of the Seed of the Virgin, some 4000 years before He was born. Again, near the end of Genesis God predicted the futures of the sons of Jacob, and also the 400 years which Abraham's seed would spend in Egypt before deliverance came. All these predictions were fulfilled exactly and precisely, to the finest detail.
All
through history God has predicted, sometimes thousands of years before the
event, the coming main events, and usually only those events which related to
the people of Israel (the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, and the Jews).
He never, for example, gave any prophecy regarding the Chinese. It is Israel,
God's People, who draw together the path of history, and in Revelation, we see
Israel again, finally perfected, and forming the nucleus of the Kingdom of God
on Earth.
The
second thing to note is that Daniel and Revelation go together. Daniel picks up
the story from his day and carries us through to the coming of Rome, then John
on the Isle of Patmos picks up the story from Rome through to the return of
Jesus. It is all there, from Genesis to Revelation, one continuous line of
prophecy, like a chain of links, from the first predictions to the last. Daniel
forms but one link in God's revelation.
Chapter
1.
This
chapter covers the capture of Daniel and three others, whose names are changed
as they are forced to serve in the kingdom of Babylon. They refuse to eat the
"king's meat" and as a result they are selected as the best of the
king's advisors.
Chapter
2.
This
chapter is about the king's dream. In the dream the king saw an image, or
statue, which was made of different materials. Below is a simple breakdown of
this image and what it means: Head of Gold
Babylon
1st
kingdom Chest of Silver
Medo/Persia
2nd
kingdom Thighs of Brass
Greece
3rd
kingdom Legs of Iron
Rome
4th
kingdom Feet of Iron & Clay European States
5th
kingdom Mighty Rock
USA
and Br.Com.
6th
kingdom
Note
that there is no seventh kingdom mentioned. As far as the Bible is concerned,
the last world power on Earth before the return of Christ is the might British
Commonwealth and the America power, with her allies.
There
are many details built into this prophetic overview, which could be dealt with
at length (for example, the legs of iron, a metal common to the Romans, also
represent the fact that Rome divided into two distinct parts - Western Rome and
Eastern), but these will be left out for the sake of brevity.
Chapter
3.
This
is about the image of gold which the king set up to be worshipped. Three men,
Daniel's companions, refused to bow to it and were subsequently thrown into a
furnace, where they were protected by God. They were later promoted by the king.
Chapter
4.
This
chapter is about king Nebuchadnezzar, who boasted about his greatness. God
pronounced a term of punishment on the king and so the king spent some time
outside the palace, living like an animal. When God restored him, the king
proclaimed that God was the true God.
Chapter
5.
This
chapter is about king Belshazzar and the judgement pronounced on him by God. On
the very night that the king was drinking to his success, God sent an invading
army, that of Darius the Median, to capture and kill him.
Chapter
6.
This
chapter is about Daniel, who being innocent was accused of treachery and thrown
into a den of lions. God preserved him through the night and Daniel emerged
unharmed. He was promoted and his enemies were put to death.
Chapter
7.
This
chapter is about the four beasts, which Daniel was shown as a prophetic picture
of a coming succession of empires. These four beasts line up alongside the
vision of the stature, which the king saw in a dream - see chapter 2. The beasts
and statue start and finish at the same times but to the beasts vision is added
a little more detail about the rise of the Roman Catholic Papacy. In both the
statue and beasts vision the final end of their destruction and the setting up
of the Kingdom of God.
1st
beast: lion with wings
Nebuchadnezzar
to Belshazzar
2nd
beast: bear with ribs
Darius
the Mede and Cyrus the Persian
Cambyses
Darius
the Persian
Artaxerxes
Darius
Condimanus 3rd beast: 4headed leopard Alexander the Great
4th
beast: terrible, iron teeth Augustus Octavian
After
the 4th beast, comes the split between West and East of Rome. Western Rome was
ruled by Honorus and Eastern Rome was ruled by Arcadius. In the statue this
stage in history was fulfilled by the collapse of Rome and the rising of ten
European States.
These
ten States
(or
toes of the statue) are listed as the Lombards, Franks, Burgundians, Ostrogoths,
Visigoths, Vandals, Heruli, Sueves, Huns and Saxons. (Elliot's Horae, volume 3,
page 136)
With
the decree of the emperor Phocas, in 606, the bishop of Rome was decreed as head
of the whole Church, and the prediction in Daniel was fulfilled, that one horn
had eyes and a mouth (7:20) and this power would wage war against the saints.
There is no doubt that some of the fiercest persecution against true Christians
has come from the Church of Rome.
We
will now go through this chapter in more detail.
God
declares the end from the beginning. Because He can see the whole sweep of what
we call history, He knows everything which is yet to happen. This does not mean
that He CONTROLS the events - which is an error made by fatalists, or
predestinationists. To foresee something is not the same as to cause it to
happen. God knows what the future holds because He is not restricted by Time, as
we are. He inhabits eternity. This ability to know all things as if they are
always in the present tense is found in His Name: I AM. (Is.46:9,10)
7:3
Four
great beasts came out of the sea. These four beasts match the four parts of the
statue which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. Each beast rose out of the
"sea" in sequence, not all at once, which shows that each empire would
take over from the one before it, in succession. The beasts are powerful Gentile
kingdoms (that is, non-Israelite)
7:4
The first beast was like a lion, with eagle's wings. The wings were removed and
it was made to stand up on its feet like a man and it was given a man's heart.
The
first beast represents Babylon (the statue's head of gold). The reference to the
lion and the eagle symbolize the kingdom's vigour and mobility. Babylon's power
was similar in a way to the king who ruled in it, and when that king died the
kingdom fell. This is why God mentions the image of the man in combination with
the beast.
7:5
The
second beast was like a bear, with three ribs (tusks, large teeth) in its mouth.
This
beast represents the Medo-Persian empire. (It matches the statue's chest and
arms) It is interesting that God predicted that this second empire would have
not two but THREE large teeth in its mouth. History shows that while the Medes
and Persians were the main powers, the little kingdom of Elam also joined with
them. These three kingdoms overthrew the Babylonians and took their place.
7:6
The
third beast was like a leopard with four wings and four heads.
This
third kingdom (which matches the hips and loins of the statue) was Greece. The
four wings represent the rapid flight and speed of Alexander the Great as he
overran his enemies, beginning with his conquest of the Medes and Persians.
The
four heads represent the Greek empire after Alexander died, when it was divided
between four of his generals. These four "heads" were Macedonia, under
Cassander, Thrace and Asia in or under Lysimachus, Syria under Seleucus, and
Egypt under Ptolomy.
7:7
The
fourth beast is called "dreadful and terrible". It has iron teeth and
destroys everywhere it goes. It also has ten horns.
This
beast, which represents the rise of the kingdom of Rome matches the legs of iron
on the statue. It
is
called a kingdom of iron, and its rule, as seen in history, was indeed dreadful
and terrible. Rome was a vast kingdom, with a huge army, and a wide range of
government styles, which came and went as the empire aged.
The
ten horns have already been identified. They are listed in several records of
history, and although there is some dispute as to their exact identity, the main
view of Scripture is that Rome would eventually become a multitude of smaller
states, none of which would work together in harmony. This is depicted by the
statue, where iron and clay toes are described. We would not want to try to say
which "toe" was "iron" or 'clay". It is highly unlikely
that such specific detail is meant to be expressed here.
7:8
Out
from among the ten horns comes one horn, which tosses out three horns by the
roots. This ascending horn has eye like a human and a mouth speaking great
things.
The
Rev.E.P.Cachemaille writes: "If the ten horns be the kingdoms of Medieval
and modern Europe, there can be no question as to what is the "little
horn" that grows up among them, and claims and exercises a long-lasting
supremacy over them all. The rise, growth, dominion and decline of the Papal
power are by far the most notorious and the most important facts in the history
of those regions and those centuries. By the confession of all the best
historians, the career of the Papacy is the track about which, for twelve or
more centuries, the history of the European kingdoms has to be arranged"
(from his book 'The First Two Visions of Daniel')
The
"little horn" grew to such power that it was able to remove three
other horns. History shows that the kingdoms of the Heruli, the Ostrogoths and
the Lombards were taken over by the Papal Power, which in time took over the
temporal power as well as the spiritual power, which continued to extend across
Europe and into England, France and so on.
The
mouth and eyes of the horn represent the fact that this power was motivated by a
man, namely the Pope - whichever Pope was at that time sitting on the throne.
Note: no single Pope is spoken of here, but a succession of Popes. From the will
of this man came the directives, the bulls, the orders, the laws, the new
beliefs and so on. The Popes had power to order armies about, to set up or take
down political leaders. They could pretend to speak for god, and also behave
like temporal kings, More about the Papacy is found in 2Thess.2 and 1John 2:18
and forward. Also, in Revelation 13 and 17 more light is thrown on the papal
rule, where it is described as a "harlot" and a "beast".
The
usurping horn is said to speak "great things" and has a look more
"stout than his fellows". These curious expressions refer to the man
who considered himself a direct descendant of the apostle Peter, to the man who
had the arrogance and audacity to pass rules which contradicted the Bible. In
the canon laws he is referred to as "our Lord God the pope" and it is
said that he is "neither god nor man, but both".
Pope
Boniface VIII (1295-1303) in the Unam Sanctum, states "All the faithful of
Christ by necessity of salvation are subject to the Roman Pontiff, who judges
all men, but is judged by no one . . . This authority is not human, but rather
divine . . . therefore we declare, assert, define, and pronounce, that to be
subject to the Roman Pontiff is to every human creature altogether necessary for
Salvation . . ."
If
you or I were to make such claims we would be spoken to quite sternly by other
Christians, or perhaps laughed at, but history records that pope after pope came
out with such extravagant claims, and many thousands actually accepted them. No
wonder the time before the Reformation has been called the "Dark"
Ages, as the light of God's Truth was kept down by the lies and blasphemies of
men who claimed to be God's representatives.
7:21-27
The boastful horn "made war with the saints", and also "thought
to change times and laws".
History
shows that the power of the Roman Church was directed, among other targets,
against the small, but true Church. Protestants were attacked and killed
repeatedly, or their lives were made miserable, simply because they would not
acknowledge the pope, or obey his false doctrines.
Some
of the changed times and laws, instituted by the Papacy, include: 1. Setting up
and deposing temporal kings. This is God's and the State's prerogative, not the
Church's. (God never gave the Church the power to alter political or temporal
rulers) 2. Claiming to be head of the Church. The Bible says Jesus is Head, not
some man. (Eph.1:22, 5:23-32, Col.1:18 and 1Pet.5:1-4) 3. Claiming to be
infallible. Only God knows all things. 4. Ordaining that men in the clergy
should remain celibate. This totally contradicted God's Word about marriage.
(Gen.1:26-28, 2:18-25, 1Tim.3:1-16, Tit.1:5-8, 1Tim.4:1-3) 5. Introducing the
false doctrine of purgatory, and the invocation of dead saints and angels. 6.
Introducing the doctrine of Transubstantiation - which said that the tokens of
the bread and wine became the actual body and blood of Jesus when eaten. 7. The
Papacy also altered God's Word in regard to the second Commandment, by making a
false distinction between heathen idols and Christian images. In Catholic
teaching it was permitted to kneel before a Christian image, to pray to it, to
kiss it, etc.
7:21
The horn "made war with the saints".
Obviously,
when the Catholic Church is asked whether it ever "made war against the
saints" it will either deny it, or slip out of the question, but history
records a long-continued persecution of the people of God. Those whom God called
"saint" Rome called "heretic".
For
example, here is a quote from the Catholic New Testament version (the Rhemish),
in its comment on the words "drunken with the blood of saints", in
Rev.17:6: "Protestants foolishly expound this of Rome, because heretics are
there put to death. But their blood is not called the blood of saints, any more
than the blood of thieves . . . or other malefactors: for the shedding of it no
commonwealth shall give account".
Persecutions
were carried out from the 11th and 12th
centuries,
and continued on unabated. Whole Christian communities were wiped out. The
persecutions of the Waldenses and Albigenses, the Lollards, the Bohemians, the
Huguenots and so on. The Inquisition, set up by Torquemada (Spain) was later
exported to other countries, where it continued to kill and torture all who
opposed the Papal rule. It was helped along by the Jesuit order, founded in
1540. Over the long centuries some 50 million people died, either directly or
indirectly, simply because they were seen to be opposed to, or associated with
people who were opposed to the Papal rule.
Chapter
7 ends the vision with the coming of "the Ancient of Days" - in verses
13, 14 and 26, 27. Just as in the vision of the statue, the final scene is the
setting up of the Kingdom of God. The Ancient of Days is God, or King Jesus, and
the people of the Kingdom are the national body, Israel of old, and the
Christians. Once inaugurated, this Kingdom will last for ever. There is no other
kingdom mentioned in Scripture, after the ten toes of the statue, other than
God's kingdom - so it is pointless to conjecture today about a prolonged period
of time in which Islam becomes dominant, or the Chinese/ Japanese/Indian/Asian
expansion continues globally, or a third world war breaks out, or America falls
and passes, or any of the other guesses about world trends comes to pass. And
there is certainly no mention of any one world government ruled by some evil
dictator, as is constantly taught by Futurists! God's Word cannot be broken, so
Futurist claims must be futile.
Chapter
8.
This
chapter is about the fall of Medo-Persia, the rise of Alexander the Great and
his Greek empire, the rise of the Mohammedans (Islam) and the treading down of
Jerusalem - including exactly how long this was to last.
We
will now look at these things in more detail:
8:1-2
Daniel introduces us to the time and place in which he was given the prophetic
vision.
8:3
Daniel sees a ram with two horns.
This
depicts the Medo-Persian empire. In fact, this was its emblem in those
countries. It was usual for the kings of Persia to wear a diadem of gold like a
ram's head.
Daniel
saw two horns on the ram, with the second horn coming up last, which signified
the rise of the Persians, who were not as ancient as the Medes. However the
second horn, the Persians, became the more powerful in the union.
8:4
The ram pushed against and overcame the nations to the west, north and south.
Babylon
was to the west, to the north were the people around the Caspian and Euxine Sea,
and to the south were the Egyptians. The Medo-Persians conquered and subdued
them all.
8:5
An he goat appears, running so fast it flies above the ground.
Bronze
figures of goats have been found which have been interpreted as symbols of
Macedon, and it is no surprise that God depicts Alexander the Great as a running
goat, because the speed at which Alexander conquered the Medes and Persians was
astonishing.
The
Persians tried many times to subdue Macedonia, but all they succeeded in doing
was infuriating the Greeks until they united against the common enemy. Philip of
Macedon was an effective leader, but his son Alexander was a mighty leader, who
dreamed of leading an army right into Asia and conquering the Medes and
Persians.
The
Persian monarch, Darius 111, with great confidence, engaged Alexander 's small
force with an army approximately 20 times larger, but Alexander's men were
military masters and, in three great battles, the Persians were utterly
defeated. (Grannicus 334, Issus 333 and Arbela 331)
Not
content with this victory, Alexander went on, tearing down all and any further
opposition, and thus "stamped on" the Persian ram.
8:8
The goat suddenly dies.
One
story I have read about Alexander is that he died from surfeiting during a
victory feast, but whatever the cause of his death it was sudden and unexpected.
It is a common observation that here was a man, young, virile, in the prime of
his life, at the head of a vast empire, conquering and undefeatable, who
suddenly died, taking nothing of his earthly glory with him. As Jesus said,
"What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own
soul?"
After
Alexander's death, four 'notable ones" are seen to arise. Alexander died in
323 BC, aged 33 yrs. After him his step-brother Philip (323-317). During this
period the empire was divided into a number of provinces under various rulers.
Philip was succeeded by Alexander IV, a posthumous son of Alexander the Great,
who ruled with the help of Roxana his mother, but he was murdered in 311 BC.
After that four kingdoms were formed (under five men) in 306 BC: Egypt under
Ptolomy Lagus, Syria under Antigonus, Upper Asia under Seleucus, Thrace under
Lysimachus and Macedonia under Cassander.
At
this point some might think that God's Word was in error, but soon after these
five kingdoms were formed the battle of Ipsus (301) was fought, and four
kingdoms remained. Antigonus fell and his rule taken away.
8:9-12
Another horn rises, which comes from one of the four horns already discussed
above. This new powerful ruler does terrible things in 'the pleasant land".
As
we have seen, the ruler of the Alexander's Asiatic territory was a man called
Seleucus, with his family. One of his family,
a
man called Antiochus the Great, or Antiochus Epiphanes, won a victory at Paneas
(200BC) and became the eight ruler of the Seleucid dynasty. As a result of his
efforts he was able to wrest the Holy Land from Egypt, and his intention from
then on was to force Greek culture upon Palestine, and force the Jews to become
Greeks.
Antiochus'
name means "God made manifest". He lived from 175-164 BC. He had spent
15 years as a hostage in Rome, and on his release he set about taking Jerusalem,
killing its people, robbing and defiling the Temple and sacrificing pigs on the
altar (170BC). All this is described prophetically in such terms as "yet he
magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice
was taken away". In 168-9 he caused a statue of Jupiter to be set up in the
Holy of Holies, and commanded heathen sacrifices to be offered. He also tore
down the walls of Jerusalem, forbad circumcision, and destroyed all the sacred
books he could find. (It was as a result of these outrages that the Maccabees
revolted. The books of the Maccabees are not in the Protestant Bible, but can be
found in Catholic versions)
8:12
This
verse points out that transgression was the cause for Antiochus' triumph over
the Jews.
The
Jews, despite their best efforts, were not without many grave sins, so God
allowed the invasion by Antiochus as a punishment for Jewish transgression. For
example, the Jews were adopting some of the heathen customs and beliefs. One of
these false beliefs was drawn from the heathen Zoroastrian religion, which
taught that there is life after death (apart from the resurrection), with
rewards and punishments. The Greeks generally believed this too, naming their
afterlife world 'Hades". The Bible, however, clearly teaches that when we
die we go to "Sheol" which means "the grave" or
"pit", a place of utter unconsciousness, and there we stay until God
raises us again. Satan started the after-life lie when he suggested that
"you shall not surely die", and Man has been repeating it ever since.
8:13
A question is asked: how long would it be between a casting down of the daily
sacrifice and the cleansing of the sanctuary.
There
are many shades of interpretation regarding this question and its answer, so let
the Reader decide what seems best. The following is one possible explanation.
At
the time of this vision being given to Daniel the daily sacrifice and the
sanctuary were not even in existence. Daniel was a captive Jew, and the Jews had
not yet started to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and Temple. (See
Ezra and Nehemiah) So any attempt to date the time period given in verse 14 from
Daniel's day is useless, as the starting point must be somewhere in the future,
from Daniel's point of view.
There
was however a daily sacrifice during Roman times, and after Rome came the long
centuries of desolation for Jerusalem, and the Mohammedans in occupation of the
city. So it seems likely that the time period given begins around 70 AD, when
Jerusalem fell, and ends some time after that, when the city was reclaimed.
Something
should here be said about the Maccabees. They were a courageous band, who took
on huge opponents, and won the final battles for independence. The revolt began
in 167, and by 143, after many defeats as well as victories, Simon Maccabaeus
gained full independence for the Jews. He conquered the remaining Seleucid
strongholds in Jerusalem and at Gaza, and in 141 BC he became the independent
high priest and also the general of the Jewish community. A tremendous story.
But
the question as to how long is given as "2300 days". A prophetic day
is an actual year, so we have to find two points in history which span 2300
years. Where should we start this time span. For me, a likely point would be
Alexander the Great's first battle, in 334BC. The main reason why this date
seems most appropriate is because the 2300 years terminal is 1967 when the
Moslem control was finally ended over the Temple Mount. In that year, on June
7th, the shofar was blown and the Israeli National Anthem was sung. Jerusalem
and the Temple were now completely liberated from foreign oppression. At the
beginning of the 2300 years the Medo-Persian power began to lose to the Greeks,
in Alexander's first battle. This was a significant signal because it was from
the Greek empire that Antiochus emerged, and it was he who trod down Jerusalem.
One
way to illustrate this 'signal' concept is to think of a gun firing a bullet at
a target. There are three points we could focus on, the firing of the gun, the
passage of the bullet, and the striking of the target. The last point is the end
of the act, the passage of the bullet is a time line, but the firing is a
definite point in time. It doesn't matter how long the bullet travels, the
firing is the most important point to measure the act from - in a similar way,
the invasion by Alexander was like the firing of the gun. It was the point from
which all the other events followed.
1967
is also significant because up till then the Mohammedan power still had control
of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. You could not say that the
"sanctuary was cleansed" as Daniel predicted, until the Temple Mount
was actually back in Jewish hands - where it belonged.
Having
described the vision in chapter eight, Daniel is then told what the vision
means, through the rest of the chapter, with a few additional details. There is
no doubt that the vision is predictive, that is, for the distant future (8:26),
so there is no justification for saying that Daniel wrote it all after the
event. If he did that, the whole point of prophecy as a revelation of God's
glory would be nonsense.
Daniel
was so overwhelmed by the whole experience he fainted and remained sick for
several days. This shows how wonderful and awesome his time with God must have
been, and how careful we must be when dealing with the things of God. - not like
some people today, who treat God's Word like some trivial gimmick, to be bandied
about and treated flippantly.
Chapter
9.
This
chapter is about the 490 year period (seventy prophetic weeks), which runs from
the first decree by king Artaxerxes in 458 BC to rebuild Jerusalem, to the
coming of the Messiah. The Messiah 'came' at his baptism. The last seven years
of this time period are divided into two halves. The first half covers the
ministry of the Messiah to His crucifixion, and the other half runs to the
moment when God declared that the gospel should go to the Gentiles. Thus the 490
years are finished.
Futurists
totally misread this chapter, and say that the "he" in verse 27 refers
to some future anti-Christ. Such reasoning is unscholarly, and totally wrong.
The "he" in Daniel refers to the Messiah, who accomplished the six
things listed (verse 24) to the finest detail. It was the "he" the
Messiah who was "cut off" (crucified, died) and who gave his life for
the people, and "not for himself", because he was innocent of sin.
After the Messiah died, and rose, and returned to heaven, the Lord brought in
the punishment on the city, at the hands of General Titus, son of the emperor
Vespasian, and in 70 AD the city was destroyed.
You
may like to see my more detailed notes on this chapter in a separate essay.
Chapter
10.
This
chapter is part of a single passage which goes right through 11 and 12. The last
two chapters, 11 and 12 cover some more of 8 and 9, adding and expanding here
and there. Chapter 10 begins with Daniel fasting and praying for understanding,
and in answer to his desire an angel comes to show him more. One very
interesting thing to notice is the reason for the angel's delay - he was held up
for three weeks fighting the "prince of the kingdom of Persia". This
gives us a tiny glimpse into the spiritual warfare which is, undoubtedly, going
on all the time behind the scenes, as God works out His purposes on behalf of
the human race.
Chapter
11.
This
chapter is about "what shall befall thy people in the latter days" -
10:14. In other words, the remaining prophecies in Daniel are about the Jewish
people.
At
first glance it appears that chapter 11 is rather a tangle. There are kings
moving here and there, captives, gods, sons and so on. A king from the south and
a king from the north have several parts to play and other characters come at
random moments, making the whole chapter seem quite unwieldy. Quite obviously it
would have been impossible to decode the chapter before the events, but with
hindsight, and a history book, the players and events pan out reasonably well.
The following is a brief summary of the chapter. Readers are welcome to follow
the history more comprehensibly for further details.
11:2-45
(The whole chapter)
These
verses cover the fall of Medo-Persia, the rise of Greece and the fall of Greece.
Towards the end of the chapter there is mention of the Romans, the Turks, the
Arabs and the Papacy - in symbolic form.
11:2
There will come four kings in Persia. The fourth of these kings will be
aggressive towards Greece.
These
four kings were Cambyses, Smerdis (also known as Pseudo-Smerdis, Darius
Hystaspis and the fourth king was Xerxes. At this point someone will say
"But wait, there were more than 4 kings" which is correct. These four
kings are selected because they represent four distinct dynasties.
The
fourth king, Xerxes, (the Ahasuerus in the book of Esther) stood out from the
others in that he led a great army into Greece and took on the Spartans. This
was the battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC. The Spartans were defeated and Athens was
burned to the ground. Encouraged by this victory, Xerxes attacked the Greeks
again, in 490 BC, but Xerxes was defeated this time in the naval battle of
Salamis. Because of these incursions against the Greeks, there was a great deal
of antagonism between the two nations, which was brought to a head at the coming
of Alexander the Great.
11:3
A "mighty king shall stand up". This refers to Alexander the Great.
After three great battles against the Persians, (334-331) he took absolute power
over them - as the Bible puts it "he shall rule with great dominion, and do
according to his will". 11:4
This
great king's dominion is broken and his kingdom broken into four. When Alexander
reached the peak of his success he died, in 323 BC. By 306 his dominions were
divided into four parts: Cassander reigned in Greece and the west, Lysimachus
ruled in Thrace and the north, Ptolomy ruled in Egypt and the south, and
Seleucus ruled in Syria and the east.
This
sets the stage for the rest of the chapter. Most the action from here on takes
place between the kings of the north and the kings of the south, the Seleucids
in Syria and the Ptolomies in Egypt. And right in the middle is Palestine, or
Judea, where the tiny nation of gathered Jews are. These Jews are the
forefathers of the Jews who were living in Palestine when Jesus came as their
Messiah. They are a tiny remnant of the whole of Israel, a sort of
representative nation, whose awesome privilege, as we know, was completely
wasted, because as a nation they crucified their Messiah. (However, because they
did this the gospel was let loose on the whole world)
11:5
"The king of the south" was Ptolomy Soter. "One of his
princes" was Seleucus Nicator.
11:6
"The king's daughter" was queen Berenice of Egypt. "She shall be
given up" refers to the fact that the queen was murdered.
11:7-9
These verses describe the intrigues, the plots, the revenge and counter-revenge,
the battles, the defeats and victories . . . which went on between the northern
and southern powers. It was a very common sight for the Jewish remnant to see
armies marching by, either going north or south, and then marching back either
defeated or victorious.
11:10-19
These
verses cover the life and times of Antiochus the Great, king of Syria (king of
the north).
Verses
10-19 cover the reign of Antiochus, 225-187 BC. He fought wars in the east, in
Asia Minor and against Egypt. He extended the Seleucid (northern) kingdom. He
was the son of Celeucus Ceraunus (who died in battle 226 BC)
Antiochus
advanced to the border of Egypt and threatened the 'king of the south', Ptolomy
Philopater with invasion. Ptolomy gave battle and Antiochus was routed at the
battle of Raphia, near Gaza.
11:13
The
king of the north returns. This was yet another incursion by Antiochus, marching
down from the north, with a huge army, bent on revenge. This happened 14 years
after his defeat at Raphia. Ptolomy Philopater was now dead, but his son Ptolomy
Epiphanes was ruling -
a
boy king.
11:14
This verse tells us that many will stand up against the king of the south.
History records that as Antiochus approached, others joined him, or pledged
their allegiance to him. They were guessing that Antiochus would win, and so
wanted to get 'on side' with him after the battle. Among these voluntary allies
were Philip of Macedon, and even some Egyptians, who did not like the boy king's
aides. And also some "robbers of thy people" which refers to the Jews.
These turncoat Jews wanted to help Antiochus (possibly) because they thought
they could gain power themselves if they backed the winner.
In
201 BC the Romans sent ambassadors as guardians for the boy king, because they
did not want Egypt to lose its ruler. If Egypt fell to Antiochus, then Rome's
territory would be under threat too. At this time Rome was not the powerful
empire she would soon become, but it is interesting to see how each empire
merges into the next - just as the Bible predicts.
11:15-19
These verses cover more wars between the kings of the south and the kings of the
north. The boy king Ptolomy Epiphanes sent his ablest general S copas to meet
Antiochus and try to recover some lost territory, which he did, but not for
long. As verse 15 says "and the arms of the south shall not withstand . . .
neither shall there be any strength to withstand". Antiochus carried all
before him. Scopas surrendered to him at Sidon, in the Holy Land (here called
"the glorious land") and the land of Judea was now the possession of
the king of the north. As the Bible puts it, in verse 16: "none shall stand
before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be
consumed".
11:16
Note that the bible describes the occupation as "consuming" not
"destroying". It was not Antiochus' policy to destroy Judea, but to
take from it all he needed for his troops. He was so careful in his treatment of
the people that they actually hailed him as a deliverer when he entered the
gates of Jerusalem. (198 BC)
11:17
This verse is about a political marriage. In history what happened was that
Antiochus drew up a treaty between himself and Ptolomy Epiphanes, the ten year
old boy king, in which his daughter Cleopatra was betrothed to the boy in the
hope that she would influence him, but Cleopatra turned against her own father
and sided with her husband the king. As the Bible says: "She shall not
stand on his (Antiochus') side, neither be for him (Antiochus)".
11:18
In this verse is described the attack by Antiochus of the Mediterranean coast
and the coming of a prince to defeat him. History records that Antiochus
"turned his face to the "isles" (= coastlands) of the
Mediterranean, in an effort to take to himself some of Greece's territory, but
the Romans were annoyed by this and set out to defend the coastlands, mainly
because it was to their best interests to keep them accessible. The
"prince" mentioned was a Roman commander called Scipio Asiaticus.
11:19
Antiochus
was defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae in 191 BC and was forced to retire to
Ephesus in disgrace. The Roman army crossed the Hellespont and again defeated
him at Magnesia, destroying his army, in 190 BC.
The
Bible says: "He (Antiochus the Great) shall turn his face toward the fort
of his own land: (or intend to return home), but he shall stumble and fall, and
not be found". These strange words were fulfilled exactly. History records
that Antiochus tried and failed to the raise the funds demanded by the Romans,
so he attempted to plunder the temple of Jupiter Belus, in Elymais, but the
crowd saw him and became so enraged that they killed him.
11:20
A raiser of taxes is featured, who dies soon after he appears on the scene. This
"raiser of taxes" was Seleucus Philopater, who succeeded his father
Antiochus. The Romans continued to demand an annual tribute, so Seleucus sent
his chancellor Heliodorus to Jerusalem, to plunder the Temple. Not long after
this Seleucus was poisoned, apparently, by Heliodorus, who probably wanted to
take the throne. The point is, Seleucus Philopater was "destroyed, neither
in anger, nor in battle", precisely as the Bible predicted.
11:21-30
More about the continuing wars between the north and the south. Another mention
of Rome.
11:21
A
"vile person" is mentioned, who manages to get himself onto the throne
by "flatteries". History records that Antiochus Epiphanes, king of
Syria fits the description. (175-163) On his return from Rome he took the throne
of Seleucus Philopater, his brother. The "honour of his kingdom" was
not given to him, as the Bible says, because Heliodorus was keen to seize it for
himself. Others wanted to give the throne to the king of Egypt, and Demetrius
the son of Seleucus Philopater was the rightful heir. In fact, nobody wanted
Antiochus Philopater to have the throne!
But
Antiochus Epiphanes was clever. He used "flatteries" as the Bible puts
it, to get what he wanted. He flattered Eumenes king of Pergamos, and his
brother Attalus, and by fair promises engaged their support. He flattered the
Syrians by a show of clemency, and pretended to hold the crown out to Demetrius
his nephew. He also flattered the Romans with his assurance
of
loyalty, and so he achieved his desire and took the throne.
Note:
if you were living at the time of these events, perhaps a godly believer, and
had understanding of these prophecies, you could have followed the events verse
by verse as they transpired. You might even have been able to predict, from the
Word, what was about to happen next. In this way God has always made available
to those who seek the Truth, some revelation to help them understand the times
and seasons. If you understood that the head of the statue was the gold kingdom,
then you would know that another was to follow, and then you would expect a
third to come when the second fell. When the Romans began to rise you would know
that they were the iron kingdom, and the fourth, and therefore the coming of
God's Kingdom was only one kingdom away. But only those who seek with all their
heart are given these things - those who are lazy or disinterested totally miss
the treasures which God has in store.
11:22
More wars described.
In
history what happened was that Ptolomy Philometor, after he assumed power,
determined to recapture the regions of Palestine and Phoenicia that Egypt had
lost to Antiochus the Great. Ptolomy failed, and Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded
with a great army ("with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from
before him"), to take possession of the border fortress of Pelusium, the
key of Egypt, and to penetrate as far as Memphis. Ptolomy was routed and taken
prisoner (170 BC). The Egyptians then appointed Physcon, Ptolemy's younger
brother in his place. Antiochus, taking advantage of the situation, intervened
on behalf of his royal prisoner, and sent an expeditionary force against Egypt
to re-establish Ptolomy Philopater on his throne. Antiochus, in an attempt to
expel Physcon, made a treaty of friendship and alliance with Ptolomy Philopater.
This alliance, in the scheme of Antiochus, was aimed at uniting the two kingdoms
under one authority - his own. Later, Philometor made peace with Physcon his
brother, in order to get rid of Antiochus' troops from Pelusium and a large army
was built up to drive the Seleucid army out.
11:28
This verse rounds off the whole sorry mess. Antiochus "did exploits and
returned to his own land". The manner of his departing was very interesting
because it was the Romans again who had a hand in it.
What
happened was that Antiochus again marched against Egypt, intending to finally
subdue it, but the Romans would not allow him to do this. They sent a fleet
against him (see verse 30) and the Roman Ambassador Popilius Laneus met
Antiochus face to face. At this meeting Antiochus was in the process of laying
siege to Alexandria, but the Roman told him to leave Egypt immediately.
Antiochus realized he could not win. Popilius actually drew a line, a circle,
right round Antiochus, and told him to make up his mind before he stepped out of
the circle. This humiliating moment in history occurred in 169 BC.
It
is interesting how the Bible predicts this moment, with the words "for yet
the end shall be at the time appointed' (v.27) and "At the time appointed
he shall return . . .therefore he shall return . . .he shall even return"
verses 29 and 30. God has numbered the days and times of every man, and even the
day of Antiochus' humiliation is on God's exact timetable.
The
Roman ships, or triremes, are mention in verse 30. "The ships of Chittim".
In history we know whose ships these were, and we know that they came against
Antiochus, but the main point is that Rome is now powerful enough to dictate to
an invading ruler, and send him home again. The transition from one empire to
another is clearly shown by this verse. 11:31-33 The transition between the
falling Greek empire and the rising Roman one are depicted. Also, how these
things affected Jerusalem and the Jews.
11:31-33
There
were 15 more monarchs from Antiochus Epiphanes, none of whom reigned for long.
The southern kingdom, Egypt, under the Seleucids, was occupied by the Romans and
made into a Roman province by Pompey. (64 BC)
After
6 more kings of Egypt from the Ptolomy family, Ptolomy Auletes took the throne,
then, at his dying (51 BC) he left his kingdom and children to Roman
guardianship. One of these children was a girl called Cleopatra - a famous name,
and a woman who had quite a bit to do with Anthony and Caesar.
In
63 BC Pompey took Jerusalem and broke down its walls. In 54 BC Crassus wrecked
the Temple. This was something the Romans liked to do quite regularly. Josephus
says they did it four times.
11:31
"arms shall stand" refers to the Roman military. "they shall
pollute the sanctuary . . . and take away the daily sacrifice . . ." refers
to the Roman desecration of the Temple. This was not a once-only event however,
as the Roman repeatedly entered the Temple and removed the daily sacrifice.
11:32
This refers to the way the Romans corrupted many of the Jews by flattery, or
enticing words, or philosophy. The Romans introduced many Greek ideas
(Hellenist), and many heathen beliefs as well, which many Jews accepted. Again,
this was not a once-only event. Over the years these ideas kept coming along,
and were still being introduced in the days of Jesus, and after that. Some of
the ideas became heresies in the Church, some developed into cult, or appeared
as part of the Roman church's teachings.
But
the verse also tells us that some Jews would resist the error and be strong for
the Truth. Again, the Romans used allurements and threatenings to cause
Christians to apostasies to idolatry, but many remained faithful to Jesus. These
faithful Jews, and then later the faithful Christians, went everywhere teaching
the word of truth, as they were persecuted from country to country. They
"instructed many" just as the Bible says.