Daniel 11

Daniel 11:1-45

THE END Daniel 11:1-45. AS we come nearer to the conclusion of this Book—the prophecy of Daniel—we approach also the end of the age, as the Prophet visualized the same! The prophetic view is often the long view; and it is a very great space of time that sweeps in between Darius the Mede and the antichrist whose brief reign closes the age to which the Church of God belongs; and yet, lengthy as is the time, the Prophet with inspired vision sees the whole and sets it down in main outline, while at points he descends even to particulars. Such only is possible to the true prophet of God. The prophet-test is at the point of truth. It was voiced long ago by no less an authority than Moses himself when he said, “When a prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22).The positive side of this subject is also presented by Jeremiah who says, “The Prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the Prophet shall come to pass, then shall the Prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him” (Jeremiah 28:9).In other words, there is a crucial test for every fore-seer and forth-speaker. Time is that test; and it never fails to inform men whether the spokesmen are true or false.Daniel is one of the men to whom time has paid increasing tribute; for his prophetic delineations have seen such measure of historic fulfilment as to leave no doubt concerning his inspiration. For proof of this, I will ask you to follow the text of chapter 11 through, under the themes, The International Conflicts, Antiochus Epiphanes, and The Person of the Antichrist. THE Daniel 11:1-21.We have here presented, first, The power and passing of Persia. Darius ruled over the Media-Persian empire and in the first year of his reign the Heavenly visitor communicated to Daniel this fact,“Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia,” (Daniel 11:2). In the previous discussion we have touched upon this matter, but as we return to it now let it be said that the better Bible students are commonly agreed on the fact that these three were: the son of Cyrus, Cambyses; Smerdis, an impostor, who, because of his striking likeness to the son of Cambyses, claimed and secured the throne; and Darius who succeeded him.The text, however, clearly affirms a fourth who “shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia”.Here the unanimity of opinion among Bible students is stronger still, for Xerxes fully meets the prophetic description. His riches were of renown, and. he stirred up Asia against Greece, and with the largest army ancient history ever saw or knew, involving two million and more of men, he sought to crush the Grecian rebellion and render forever impotent its political aspirations.In verses three and four another world-figure is introduced, namely, Alexander, whose rapid rise was one of the amazements of an amazing age. To this hour he is known as “Alexander the Great.” His supremacy began with Greece at his feet and the whole Medo-Persian realm as the object of his conquest. In a brief space of time his dominion was well nigh absolute; but alas for the weakness of even the mightiest man! His immorality contributed to the fulfilment of the further prophecy,“When he shall stand up, his kingdom shall he broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those” (Daniel 11:4), He died in the prime of his days, the victim of egotism and immorality combined. His heirs were slain; his kingdom went to pieces literally.Thus far then, Daniel has proven a true Prophet of God, for the thing which he spake came to pass.Perhaps in all human history no nation has ever made so brilliant a record as did Greece. In spite of her comparatively short life she brought forth warriors, statesmen, philosophers and historians of an incomparable quantity and quality.Prof. Conklin of Princeton University, in his volume “The Direction of Human Evolution” says, “It is the opinion of those who have studied the subject most that no modern race of men is the equal intellectually of the ancient Greek race.“In the two centuries between 500 and 300 B.C. the small and relatively barren country of Attica, with an area and total population about equal to that of the present State of Rhode Island, but with less than one-fifth as many free persons, produced at least 25 illustrious men. Among statesmen and commanders there were: Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Phocion; among poets, Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes; among philosophers and men of science, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Demetrius, Theophrastus; among architects and artists, Ictinus, Phidias, Praxiteles, Polygnotus; among historians, Thucydides and Xenophon; among orators, Aeschines, Demosthenes, Isocrates, Lysias.“In this small country in the space of two centuries there appeared such a galaxy of illustrious men as has never been found on the whole earth in any two centuries since that time. Galton concludes that the average ability of the Athenian race of that period was, on the lowest estimate, as much greater than that of the English race of the present day as the latter is above that of the African negro.”And yet, while this conquest of Greece was notable in its supremacy, as a world empire, and still more so in the point of mental superiority, the strange thing is that The Grecian disintegration prophesied by Daniel, found literal fulfilment. In Daniel 11:5 we are told,“And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. “And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not detain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her; and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. “But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: “And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. “So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. “But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. “And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. “And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. “For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. “And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. “So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. “But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. “He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his ivhole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. “After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a Prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. “Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. “Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle” (Daniel 11:5-20). It is commonly conceded that these verses prophesy the wars of the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies, as those wars raged for 200 years or more.As Jerusalem is central in God’s affection, so directions take their cue therefrom.“The king of the north” was king of the land north of Jerusalem, and “the king of the south” was king of the land south of Jerusalem, or Palestine.Dr. A. C. Gaebelein in his volume on “the Prophet Daniel,” publishes parallel columns to show the literal fulfilment of this prediction. In verse 6 he finds the prophecy of the marriage of the Egyptian Princess Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy the IInd to Antiochus, king of the north; and he traces the agreement between prophecy and history in the circumstance of Ptolemey’s death and Berenice’s disloyalty to promise, and her final poisoning.In the 7th verse he discovers reference to Ptolemy Euergetes, her own brother who avenged her death, conquered Syria, and fought against Seleucus the 2nd, king of the north. He it was who carried away captives into Egypt with precious vessels of silver and gold.

Running this parallelism through history, Dr. Gaebelein winds it up with the appearance of the noble Maccabees whom he finds pictured in Daniel 11:32-35.We are not enamored of the custom of finding the last minutiae of prophecy written into the bold outlines of history.

But such is the parallelism between these prophetic writings and this Grecian disintegration, that we are compelled to say we see no straining of Scripture or of history to see in one the prophetic photograph of the other; and when one has reached the 21st verse of this chapter, there is even less doubt, for it comes to deal withA There are several forms of work in which women engage where a mere pencil pattern on one side of a piece of cloth becomes the guide in producing attractive figures on the other side. There are certain forms of embroidery, certain forms of hooking, and certain forms of applique that so proceed that when the stitching is finished, the penciled pattern disappears, and the embossing holds all attention to itself.However, every needle-woman knows the relation of that shadowy outline to the completed task. To us, such is the relation of Divine prophecy to human history. The prophetic Scriptures not only provide that outline, but it is only after man’s work is accomplished that we see how history answers to that prophecy point by point.There is a strange philosophy current with scholars of this day to the effect that the Bible is made up largely oi mythical incidents or interesting traditions or personal philosophies, and is therefore not subject to any scientific tests, while the features of nature and the experiences of life can be reduced to factual basis,; and, consequently, can be scientifically illustrated and proven.Almost the exact opposite is true. Never in human history has any book been subjected to such scientific investigation, and tested by such scientific straight lines as the Book called “The Scriptures” and at every point it has proven that it is trustworthy.This great outstanding character, Antiochus Epiphanes, is an illustration. Here we have him outlined in prophecy; but history, when it comes to tell its story, departs from that outline at no point.In fact, it more and more seems to the thoughtful man that the definite objectives of history are the fulfilment of prophecy!

Those objectives may be lost sight of as one weaves his way through geneological tables, but the God that is over all never forgets them, nor does He fail to arrive when the hour strikes.Christ was to be the descendant of David according to prophecy, and according to history, such he was. According to prophecy, Christ was to have among His disciples a deceiver and betrayer, and according to history, He did.The shuttle that weaves the tapestry of history is for the most part out of sight, but its work is all the more effective on that account, and its objectives are best seen after the shuttle itself has ceased flying back and forth.So it is in the relation of prophecy to history.

We have here, however, an interesting form of truth presentation, namely, that of the proto-type. The character of one man of one time is taken to depict and prophesy that of another who shall come upon the scene of action later. Such was Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a great proto-type of the antichrist.It is needless here to rehearse his history or to remake the application to prophecy. We have done that to some degree of fullness in the former chapters. Suffice it to say that we hold with some excellent Bible students that the antichrist has the dual proto-type.Antiochus Epiphanes was in the Old Testament a picture of this final embodiment of world power, philosophy, and wickedness; while Judas Iscariot was the New Testament type of the same individual.

They were alike—religious in profession; they were alike in hypocritical pretense; they were alike, demon possessed, and diabolical in their endeavors; and the chief object of each was self-promotion, the first persecuting God’s people and desecrating the Divine Sanctuary in his endeavor, and the second, betraying God’s Son, and so attempting to throttle Christianity at its birth. Both of them were born in view of the day that many students of the Scripture believe to be rapidly approaching, when the antichrist shall make the final endeavor against God and His own.A careful investigation of Dan 11:35-45 revealsTHE PERSON OF THE He will come as the “King of this world.”“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done” (Daniel 11:36). “The King” as employed here is a phrase which marks this person as apart from all others. The phrase involves a number of Scripture implications.First of all, his universal supremacy is suggestive in the statement, “The king shall do according to his will”. That he will appear as king of the Jews necessitates the suggestion that he will himself be an apostate Jew. The argument of some that this is not in accordance with the fact that he is to rise out of Rome, is to us illogical! The Jews are in every nation now, and of every nation. He can be, at once, a Roman and a Jew; nor does the argument from 1 John 2:18-19 establish the fact that this final apostate is an apostate from Christianity, for the antichrists there referred to are merely forerunners of this final and consummate figure.Personally, we have long believed that the spirit of Judas may be clothed in the flesh afresh, and that his birth, his former experience with the Christ, as well as his demonic possession may peculiarly fit him to fill this office of Christ’s final foe.

It will be understood, however, that I throw this out as a mere suggestion, not as a dogmatic deliverance.We have watched with interest the varied pulpit deliverances on this subject. Some saw in Lenin the antichrist; some see in Stalin the antichrist; some see in Mussolini the antichrist; and now, doubtless, Hitler will be next in ascendant.There is a sense in which each of them participates.

It is the sense, however, of John’s deliverance, “Even now are there many antichrists” (1 John 2:18).But there is also a plain prophecy to the effect that all will finally head up in one colossal figure who will come to supremacy in Daniel’s seventieth week, and whose character and accomplishments are alike divinely delineated.There is at present such combinations of circumstances as to create him. The Socialist movement of the last one hundred years is beyond all question the supremely important movement of later centuries. Since the days of Carl Marx it has been increasingly accentuated, and more and more disputes with capitalism all world control. It stands stolidly for “the solidarity of human kind,” and reckons society itself not as an aggregation of individuals, but rather as the one and only God of the universe.W. E. P.

French, in “The Creed of Collectivism” quotes, “The will of man is the Supreme Law; and its Voice the Mandate of God.”At our university centers there are an increasing number of professors who have shifted from the worship of God to the worship of man. To use the language of one, “Man is slowly being revealed to himself.

The word the world waits for will come from those who disclose to humanity that the perfections it has been attributing to its gods are sparks struck out of the goodness it feels stirring within itself.”Humanism, which is only another name for this new religion, is a literal fulfilment of the sentence, “He * * shall magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36).Combine this growing sentiment of the supposedly scholarly with the increasing disposition to disregard all Divine Law and make one’s volition the only law to which he may be subjected, and you approach more and more the time when this text finds complete fulfilment.Mr. French’s book states it, “Socialism is the second coming of the elder brother.”But take a step further andFace the fact that force is the God of this faith.“But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. “Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain” (Daniel 11:38-39). More than a quarter of a century ago, Sir Robert Anderson called attention to this prophecy and to the then rising tendency, to exalt FORCE as the only god known to the universe, but the past twenty-five years have emphasized that tendency a hundredfold. Since that time, whole schools of scientists have declared themselves converts to this new faith. They glorify FORCE, and now the substratum of society is accepting their philosophy and proposing to put the same into practice.That is why Stalin relies upon force; that is why Mussolini recognizes no other God; that is why Hitler increases his “brown shirt” crowd; and all of that is in absolute line with the great popular philosophy of the day, ! It seeks to exert its propaganda that only “the strong” have a right to “survive.”When I consider the philosophy of Socialism, when I think on the hypothesis of evolution, when I observe the madness of nations, when I regard the international maelstrom, all—absolutely moving now in the direction of a final unification of the rise of a world ruler,—when I see how the corporation idea has already conquered in business, has already throttled all independence in lines of education, and how it seems absolutely determined to take over religion, and deteriorate it, I join with those who believe that the day of the end of this age draws near. And yet I face that fact with calmness; yea, even with content, because I believe what Daniel has further to say on these subjects,“He shall come to his end, and none shall help him”. If we have a prophetic outline of the person, character, and career of the antichrist we have also a sure promise from God that that person shall pass. His character shall finally be revealed in the white light of eternal truth, his career shall close with a kindred catastrophe to that which ended all his types and symbols.John, in his vision saw“Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. “And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called The Word of God. “And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. “And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a Name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; “That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:11-20). That is the end of the antichrist! That is the victory of the coming Lord! That will be the time when all angels of Heaven and all saints, whether in the clouds or on the earth, shall unite their voices in singing,“Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God”! “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS”.