The struggle between various rulers
11
📚And in the first year of Darius 📖 the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him.)2 📚“And now I will tell you this truth: See, there will still be three kings 📖 in Persia who arise, and the fourth will be far richer than them all; and by his strength, through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the realm of Greece.
11:2 From here to Dan 12:4, beginning with Daniel’s day and going on to the end of this age, there is a remarkable glimpse into the future. The prophecies contained in verses 2-36 were fulfilled over a period of 362 years.⚜
3 📚And a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority, and act according to his will.
11:3 Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.).⚜
4 📚And when he arises, his kingdom will be broken and divided toward the four 📖 winds of heaven, but not among his posterity, or according to the authority with which he ruled. For his kingdom will be uprooted for others instead of those.
5 📚“And the king of the south will be strong, along with one of his princes who will gain power over him, and have dominion. His dominion will be a great dominion. 6 📚And at the end of some years they will join together, for the daughter 📖 of the king of the south will come to the king of the north 📖 to reach an agreement. But she will not retain the power of authority, and neither he nor his authority will stand. But she will be given up with those who brought her there, and her father, and the one who strengthened her at that time.
7 📚“But out of a branch of her roots someone will arise in his place. He will come with an army, and enter the fortress of the king of the north 📖, and deal with them, and prevail,
11:7 “But out of a branch from her roots” or “a descendant from her family line” – this was Ptolemy III.⚜
11 📚“And the king of the south 📖 will be moved with rage, and come out and fight with him, with the king of the north, who will muster a great multitude. But the multitude will be given into the hand of his enemy. 12 📚And when the king of the south has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up with pride, and he will overthrow many tens of thousands, but he will not remain in a position of strength by it. 13 📚For the king of the north will return, having mustered a multitude greater than the former one. He will certainly come after some years with a great army and much equipment.
14 📚“And in those times many will stand up against the king of the south 📖. Also the violent ones among your people 📖 will exalt themselves to fulfil the vision; but they will fall. 15 📚So the king of the north will come, and build up a siege mound, and take the most fortified cities; and the arms of the south will not withstand him; nor will his chosen people; nor will there be any strength for withstanding. 16 📚But the one who comes 📖 against him will do according to his own will, and no one will be able to stand before him. And he will stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hands. 17 📚He will also set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him. He will do this. And he will give him the daughter 📖 of women, to ruin it. but she will not stand on his side, or be for him. 18 📚After this he will turn his face to the coastlands, and take many. But a prince 📖 will put a stop to the scorn shown by him, and will make his scorn turn back on him. 19 📚Then he will turn his face toward the fortress of his own land, but he will stumble and fall, and not be found.
11:19 Antiochus III perished in 187 BC in Elymais.⚜
20 📚“Then in his place 📖 will arise someone who imposes taxes for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he will be destroyed, but not in anger, or in battle.
21 📚“And in his place a contemptible person will arise. They will not give royal honours to him, but he will come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by intrigue.
11:21 Antiochus IV, also known as Antiochus Epiphanes. See Dan 8:9-13, 23-25. He seized power when the rightful heir to the throne was very young.⚜
22 📚And with the power of a flood they will be swept away from before him, and will be shattered, yes, also the prince of the covenant. 23 📚And after an alliance has been made with him he will act deceitfully. For he will come up, and become strong with a small number of people. 24 📚He will enter peaceably into even the richest places of the province, and will do what neither his fathers or grandfathers ever did; he will distribute among them the plunder, and loot, and riches. Yes, and he will devise his plots against the strongholds, but only for a time.
11:22-24 At first Antiochus IV was very successful in battle. But he was very treacherous toward those who had made agreements with him.⚜
25 📚“And he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south 📖 will be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army. But he will not stand, for they will devise plots against him. 26 📚Yes, those who eat of the food he provides will destroy him, and his army 📖 will be swept away, and many will fall down slain. 27 📚And both these kings 📖’ hearts will be set on evil, and they will speak lies at the same table. But it will not succeed, for the end will still come at the appointed time. 28 📚Then he will return to his land with great riches. And his heart will be set against the holy covenant 📖, and he will take action, and return to his own land.
29 📚“At the appointed time 📖 he will return, and come to the south. But this latter time will not be like the former. 30 📚For the ships 📖 of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened, and return in fury against the holy covenant, and take action. Yes, he will return and be favorable toward those who forsake 📖 the holy covenant 📖.
31 📚“And forces of his will arise and defile the sanctuary stronghold, and will take away the daily sacrifice; and they will put there the abomination that causes desolation.
11:31 In 168 BC Antiochus sent troops to take possession of Jerusalem. They attacked people on the Sabbath day and took captive many women and children. The temple was taken and Antiochus ordered the Jews to stop all sacrifices. He had an altar to the Greek god Zeus erected in the temple court on the altar of burnt offering. This was the state of things for more than three years. This abomination of desolation was not the same of which Jesus spoke in Matt 24:15, but was a type, a picture of it. See Dan 9:27; 12:11.⚜
32 📚And he will corrupt by flattery those who act wickedly against the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong, and do exploits.
33 📚“And those among the people who understand will instruct many. Yet for many days they will fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by plundering.
11:32-33 The Jews were divided. Some wicked and ambitious persons came under the influence of Antiochus. Other Jews were strong to resist him, taught the people the truth, and endured great persecution at his hands. They were Jews who knew God and were willing to suffer for Him. Compare Heb 11:36-38.⚜
34 📚Now when they fall, they will be aided by a little help, but many will join them who are not sincere 📖.
11:5-34 Gives us the struggle for predominance between two of the four parts of Alexander’s former empire. The king of the south is the ruler of Egypt. The king of the north is the ruler of Syria and lands allied with Syria. A very few commentators have taught that all these verses relate to the end of this present age. The great majority have taught that they give a succession of rulers of those two kingdoms over a period of roughly 160 years, beginning in 323 BC. This is the view given in these notes. The first king of the south was Ptolemy Soter, a Macedonian. The first king of the north was Seleucus. The land of Israel was directly between the kings of the north and the kings of the south.⚜
35 📚And some of those who have understanding will fall 📖, to refine them, and to purify them, and to make them white, until the time of the end 📖. For it will still come at the appointed time.
The kings at the end of this age
36 📚“And the king will do just as he wishes. And he will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak extraordinary things against the God of gods, and will be successful until the time of indignation 📖 is fulfilled. For what is decreed will be done.
11:36 Dan 7:8; 2 Thess 2:3-4; Rev 13:5-6. Here is the essence of sin – self-will and self-exaltation. It began with Adam’s one act of self-will in the garden of Eden. It will end with one man of utter self-will ruling the earth and the vast majority of people bowing down to him.⚜
37 📚He will not have regard for the God of his fathers, or for the one women desire, or have regard for any god 📖; for he will exalt himself above all. 38 📚But in their place he will honour a god of fortresses 📖, will honour a god unknown to his fathers, with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and desirable things. 39 📚Thus he will do in the strongest fortresses with a strange god. He will give great honour to those who acknowledge him, and he will cause them to rule over many, and will divide up the land 📖 for gain.
40 📚“And at the time of the end the king of the south will push at him, and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he will invade countries, and overwhelm them and pass on through.
41 📚“He will also invade the glorious land 📖, and many countries will be overthrown. But these will escape from his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the leaders of the children of Ammon 📖. 42 📚He will also stretch out his hand over other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 📚But he will have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his feet. 44 📚But news from the east 📖 and from the north will trouble him, therefore he will set out with great fury to destroy, and do away with many. 45 📚And he will pitch his palace tents between the seas 📖 in the glorious holy mountain 📖. Yet he will come to his end 📖, and no one will help him.
11:36-45 The king here is not Antiochus Epiphanes whose doings are described in vs 21-32. There is no evidence that he magnified himself above every god and showed no regard for the gods of his fathers (vs 36,37). And the death of Antiochus was different from that described in verses 44,45. Antiochus was but a type or picture of this one who will come at the “time of the end” (v 40).
The language of v 40 is obscure in Hebrew, so it is difficult to know whether the king of v 36 is attacked by both the king of the south and the king of the north, or whether he himself is the king of the north who attacks the king of the south. If he is the king of the north, vs 41-45 refer to him. If he is not the king of the north they do not refer to him. Since the language is obscure we should be careful not to be dogmatic and make statements which cannot be proved. The fulfillment will make the prophecy clear.⚜
11:40-45 The king of the north is in view here. He may or may not be the same as the king of v 36.⚜