Last time we spoke about this great cosmic warfare being fought for the souls of people. The warfare is being waged by the angels of God and the angels of Satan who are locked in a constant fight to influence the behavior of people and nations. We got a glimpse of this warfare in the previous chapter. The objective of the demonic forces was to stop Daniel's prayer, preventing it from ever being answered. If you look at Old Testament history you will find many times how Satan did his best to thwart God's plan to use the Jews as his channel to save the world.
In the first part of this vision that God gave Daniel, we see that God wanted Daniel and all succeeding generations to know the major events of world history up until the very end. Daniel's vision covers the last era of human history, in particular the rise of the Antichrist and the terrifying tribulation that he will launch upon the earth.
The scripture that we read tonight in Daniel 11, is a prediction of history that would begin with the Persian empire of Daniel's day and run right up to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, the arch-persecutor of God's people. Keep in mind that the events in chapter 11 that we look at tonight had not yet taken place. As we look back on the events today, they are history. They have already been fulfilled.
This chapter covers things that have actually occurred with many different rulers and kings. Without mentioning all of them by name, we simply need to know that these events have taken place just as God revealed in a vision to Daniel.
Daniel 11: 2. What we see here is the conflicts between rulers and nations. This is proof that God fulfills His Holy Word. Verse 2 tells us that three kings would succeed Cyrus. A fourth King by the name of Xerxes would come into power and would be powerful and eventually would invade Greece.
Daniel 11: 3-4. This mighty Greek ruler was Alexander the Great. He would do as he pleased. He was very prideful and self-exalting. We have already seen that Alexander the Great would die at an early age. He would die at the height of his power. His empire would be divided into four kingdoms. The empire would not go to his sons but would be divided between four of his commanders. As the empire was given to these, it would never achieve its former power.
Daniel 11:5. This verse speaks of the Egyptian and Syrian rulers. They ruled over the nation's South and North of Israel. Their names were Ptolemy I and Seleucus I. Ptolemy I would become strong, but his commander Seleucus I would become stronger and choose to rule Syria himself.
Daniel 11:6. This is speaking of the Egyptian dominance over Syria. The dynasties would form an alliance. It would be sealed by the marriage of the daughter of Egypt's King to the Syrian King Antiochus II. This alliance wouldn't last long. The Egyptian King's daughter and Antiochus II too would be killed by the King’s former wife.
Daniel 11:7-9. The brother of the Egyptian King's daughter that was killed would succeed their father. He would attack Syria to avenge his sister and he would be victorious. He would plunder the wealth of Syria including their idols or so-called gods. He would pursue a policy of peace with Syria for a number of years. He would later be invaded by Seleucus II of Syria, but he would be able to push the enemy back.
Daniel 11: 10. The sons of these former Kings would continue serious conquests by attacking Phoenicia, Palestine, and even Egypt.
Daniel 11: 11-12. This King of the South is the king of Egypt. He would march out in a rage and rally his army. He would defeat the king of Syria. But that would cause him to be filled with pride. He would slaughter thousands but he would not succeed for long.
Daniel 11:13. The Syrian King, that is the king of the north, would form a large army and invade Palestine, Egypt, and Phoenicia.
Daniel 11:14. The Syrian king would be joined by others, including some of the lawless Jews who hope to gain their independence, but their revolt will fail.
Daniel 11:15. The Syrian king would be sieged and capture the fortified city of Sidon. He would be so powerful that the forces of Egypt wouldn't be able to stand against him.
Daniel 11:16. He would do as he pleased. No one would be able to stop him. He would conquer and plan to destroy the glorious land of Israel.
Daniel 11:17. The Syrian king, Antiochus III who would come to be known as Antiochus the Great, would use his power to force Egypt into a peace treaty. This treaty would be sealed by the Syrian King, Antiochus the Great, giving his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to the Egyptian king. His plan would fail because his daughter Cleopatra supported her husband more than she did her father.
Daniel 11: 18-19. Antiochus the Great would turn to a new war with the Mediterranean coastlands. He would be soundly defeated by a special commander. Rome would enter the picture and force him to turn back to his own country.
Daniel 11:20. The son of Antiochus the Great would succeed his father. That is Seleucus IV. He would impose heavy taxes but he would die by being poisoned by his prime minister.
Daniel 11:21-24. You have heard me speak of Antiochus Epiphanes who was very similar in his actions as will be the Antichrist in the end time. These verses are speaking of Antiochus Epiphanies. He will rise to power by flattering the people. He would consolidate power by a victory over Egypt and by destroying Israel's high priest at that time. He would form a deceitful treaty with Egypt's defeated King and would give him a power base in Egypt. He would try to consolidate his power even more by distributing the wealth of the land. He would plunder the rich areas and give the wealth to his supporters. He would plan to conquer others, but he would do so only as long as God allowed.
Daniel 11: 25-26. Antiochus would defeat Egypt in battle. He would mobilize a large army and would be victorious against Egypt because of various plots against the king of Egypt.
Daniel 11:27-30. The deceitful treaty that Antiochus the Great made with the king of Egypt would fail due to God's appointed judgment. This whole chapter so far has pointed to the rise of this evil Antiochus Epiphanies. We have spoken of how devious he was. The prophecy predicted that he would attempt to destroy the worship of the Lord. He would return to Syria but he would pass through Israel and punish the Jews due to a revolt they formed against him. He would invade Egypt again, but this time he would not be victorious. Rome would meet and force him to retreat in shame. He would vent his anger on the Jews, the people of the Holy covenant.
Daniel 11: 31-32. In his persecution of the Jewish people, Antiochus would desecrate the temple and abolish the daily sacrifice. We talked about that a few chapters ago. He would set up the abomination of desolation, an altar of Zeus. He would corrupt many Jews through flattery. But he would be resisted by the true believers.
Daniel 11:33-35. The angel prophesied that the persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes would be overcome by the true believers. Those are the wise mentioned in verse 35. Some of the believers were not fully committed to the Lord. But for those who remained faithful to the Lord, some were martyred for their faith.
I know this is a lot of Old Testament history that most of us will not remember but the focus of the first part of this prophecy was to predict the severe persecution the Jews would receive at the hands of Antiochus Epiphans. That, in fact, occurred in history just as the Lord said.
We will stop here for tonight and pick up part 2 of this Vision next time.
