The Syrian King Of The North

Praise God, we're turning to Daniel chapter 11, and this is part 12 of our Daniel series. We're continuing with our series, The Heavens Rule, and if you haven't been with us up to this point, you've lost a lot of ground. We pray that we won't lose you tonight in this message, and we pray that the Lord will speak to you. But we're going to Daniel chapter 11, Daniel chapter 11, and this is part 12 of our series, such a vital series that we've already dealt with in the book of Daniel, and I believe it's for this hour, for this time in church history, it's a remarkable point in history that we have come to, reading Daniel chapter 11 and verse 1. I'm only going to read four verses here, you've read the chapter before you came into the meeting, and I'd ask that you read it again afterwards, but some of you who have read this chapter will be glad that I'm not going to read the whole chapter here, and you'll be worried about what I'm going to preach and teach from it. But Daniel chapter 11 and verse 1, also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him, and now will I show thee the truth. 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, and a mighty king shall stand up that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will, and when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and should be divided towards 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 these. We're here tonight in this message, part 12 of our series, but we're dealing with Daniel 11. This is my message title tonight, an unusual title, but if you understand this chapter, you'll understand why I gave it this title, the Syrian King of the North. That's my message here tonight. Please pray with me as we come to this Bible study. Father, we pray that you'd make this chapter applicable, that you'd open it up, that you'd make us to understand it, that you'd make it simple, that you'd make it clear, that you'd make us to stand in awe tonight concerning Bible prophecy. Don't let it be a hidden thing or a covered thing, but Father, I pray that you'd even dissolve every false teaching that would surround Bible prophecy, that you'd set aside and scrap, nor God, all the theories of men, as we consider what the Holy Spirit teaches us in this precious prophecy. My God, will you even astound us and shock us tonight? Will you open up this chapter that we might stand in awe of the God of prophecy, the God of history, and the God that rules from heaven? We submit ourselves tonight. We believe in your divine authority. We believe that you're in control. We believe that you're working in history. We believe that there's prophecies that are going to be fulfilled in our day, and we're praying for these prophecies to come to pass. We're praying for your church to prosper in this hour. We're praying, O God, that you bring your plans concerning Israel and Jerusalem to pass in a way that's going to shock the nations of the world. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Welcome to this Bible study here tonight as we begin again another message. My message, the Syrian King of the North. Don't let the title scare you. Don't let the contents of this chapter scare you. It is a remarkable prophecy in the Bible. In fact, I'll go as far as to say this is one of the most detailed and remarkable prophecies of the Bible. Yet I have no doubt it is one of the most neglected, one of the most obscure, one of the most set aside, and maybe one of the most unpreached prophecies in all of the Bible. Yet it is the most detailed, comprehensive prophecy in the entire Bible. As we said last week in our message, beginning in chapter 10 through to chapter 12, we have the fourth and last vision of Daniel, the prophet. We saw in Daniel chapter 10 concerning the spiritual warfare behind the events of history. We see in chapter 10 that the curtain was drawn back and we saw a warfare in heaven as well as a man called Daniel on the earth praying. He was praying for God's will to be done. As he is praying in the city of Babylon, we saw that the angels of heaven are literally involved in a spiritual warfare. It says here, and we're looking at Daniel 11, but if you go back to the previous chapter and to the end of chapter 10, to the end of what we dealt with before, listen to what it says in verse 21. This is the angel Gabriel, I believe, speaking to Daniel, but I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth. And there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. Notice how chapter 10 finishes and chapter 11 begins. Don't separate them. There's no chapter separation. It is all one vision. Chapter 11 is a continuation of chapter 10. And what we have there is the angel saying that he's going to reveal things concerning the scripture of truth. What he is revealing is biblical. It is biblical prophecy. It is scripture opened up that is revealing what is going to happen in the future. That's what Bible prophecy is. It is history revealed before it happens. And there's only one that can reveal history before it happens. And it is God himself. Chapter 10 actually ends with this angel speaking. And again, he is speaking at the beginning of chapter 11. Please follow with me as we open this message tonight. Verse one, also I, this is the angel speaking to Daniel. And he says, also I, in the first year of Darius the maid, even I stood up to confirm him and to strengthen him. Now I want you to notice that this fourth vision of Daniel that begins at the beginning of chapter 10 is given in the third year of Cyrus's reign. That's very important for you to note here. So this entire vision, chapter 10, 11, 12 is given in the third year of Cyrus's reign. But at the opening of chapter 11, look what he says here. He refers to the first year of Darius the maid. And we know that Cyrus and Darius reigned together and that Cyrus put Darius over the city of Babylon. They were ruling together. And Cyrus actually gave Darius power over the city of Babylon. But notice here what the angel is saying. He is revealing the fourth vision to Daniel in these three chapters. But he refers back two years previous. And he said two years ago. Now notice verse one. Also I, in the first year of Darius the maid. He is talking to Daniel about two years previous. And he said back there two years ago, even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him. Do you realize two years before this, this angel had stood up to strengthen Darius the maid. Now why did he do that two years before? Why is it that this angel is now telling Daniel two years ago, I stood up and I strengthened this physical king. Do you know why? Because the plan of God, the purpose of God and the prophecies of God were actually in danger. Do you remember two years before we are taken back to the event of Daniel being cast into the den of lands. That's what happened two years previously. Two years previously, there was a conspiracy and Darius's kingdom and the city of Babylon against Daniel the prophet. It was actually there to stop the Jews, to remove Daniel from a position of influence and to in fact, manipulate Darius, this new great ruler to stop the plan of God. But do you know what? It was actually the Prince of the power of Persia. In other words, a spiritual angel, a fallen angel that was working behind the events. And this angel tells Daniel two years ago, I stood up to strengthen this king, Darius the maid. I actually stood up to strengthen him. If I hadn't have strengthened him, if I hadn't have confirmed him, history would have played out very, very differently. But do you know what? Behind the events of that conspiracy against Daniel, there were spiritual forces of God at work. And I want to show you that's what's happening in our day and generation. It may seem the enemy is against us. There is a conspiracy against the church of this generation, but I assure you the angels of God stand up to affect the politics of this hour and generation. What do we read about in Daniel chapter six? That in the lion's den, an angel from the Lord was sent to close the mouth of the lions and they could not touch Daniel. And we knew the next morning, Darius the maid come rushing in and he was so glad to see Daniel alive. The conspiracy was broken. Daniel went free and the men that were trying to destroy him got thrown in the den of lions. Do you see what would have happened here without this angel of the Lord standing up and answer to Daniel's prayers? If he hadn't have shut the lion's mouth, if he hadn't have worked upon Darius the maid, everything would have happened very differently. Also that same year, a decree was issued by Cyrus concerning the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Now here, I'm bringing you to this fourth vision. Now two years later, the work of God is at a standstill. Daniel is hearing this and he's fretting. But you know what this angel is saying? Did I not stand up two years ago to strengthen the king, to bring about the plan of God, to bring forth the prophecies of God? Don't you realize saints that the angels of heaven are actually acting in world politics? That might be very hard for us to believe and understand, but I promise you in this wicked evil hour, in this year, when we see so much happening, the angels of God go forth to make sure Bible prophecy is going to be fulfilled absolutely accurately. You see, this angel is now focused upon now. He wants Daniel to see the bigger picture. There is something greater behind political events, historic events, behind the commands of kings. Even God is working, sending his angels to bring about his will. It also says previously in chapter 10 and verse 20, and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. There is a warfare that is actually going on. It's been going on for two years now in Daniel's life. And he says, and when I have gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. It's going to still be 200 years before Greece arises. It's going to be 200 years before the prince of Greece or an angel, a fallen angel sent from hell is going to come and try to affect the new empire of Greece and to stop the plan of God. This is what's being revealed to Daniel that in 200 years time, the devil is going to stop God's plan. But do you know what this same angel that was there to stand on behalf of Daniel and to send back the people to Jerusalem again, he says in 200 years, I'll be here in this battle to make sure that that prince of Grecia doesn't affect the first king of Greece. Isn't this remarkable that our God, the God we pray to, the God who answers our prayers, the one who watches over the church in this generation, he has always worked throughout church history. Do you think God has finished working in this hour? Absolutely not. I assure you, God is revealing something to us here to encourage us in our day and generation. It may seem like in that hour, Israel will not survive. God's plan is going to be wrecked. Bible prophecy cannot be fulfilled, but you know, God will work, but he's looking for a praying people in this hour. Let me bring you to this chapter and this fourth vision of Daniel, this remarkable prophecy. And can I give you a remarkable insight to this prophecy that is being revealed to Daniel? It is an hour of warfare, but God is revealing his plan and his purpose. I believe that this is a dark hour, an evil hour, but if you listen closely enough and study the scripture, God is going to reveal his divine plan to you and you through your prayers are going to be a vital part of it. In Daniel chapter 11, from verse one through to verse 35, we actually have a period of 365 years. In 35 short verses, we have 135 accurate predictions involving nations, kings, and events. That actually means there's about four details per verse over the next 35 verses. This is one of the most detailed and accurate prophecies that have already been fulfilled in history that we find in the Bible. This chapter is a remarkable chapter. If I was to go verse by verse and I'm tempted to do it, if you don't watch out tonight, I'll just go through verse by verse, prophecy by prophecy and keep you here through to midnight. But I don't want to do that tonight because I want you to understand this chapter. I don't want you just to receive facts. I want to stand back and I want you to stand with me and I want to show you the overall chapter, this prophecy that extends through 365 years and that's only the first 35 verses. There's more after that, but I want to take you through the season and show you why God has given this prophecy. Only at the end of the prophecy do you realize why God gives such a detailed prophecy. Most of you aren't interested in this historically. Most of you won't know much about it, but I assure you it is connected. All that I'm going to cover in a 365-year period has a very important message for a short seven-year period that's just ahead of us, not far ahead, and it's going to be accomplished, I believe, in our generation or the young generation that's arising now. All of those old fulfilled prophecies actually have a message to teach us what is just about to happen in our world, in certain nations, in certain areas, and with certain persons. And if you understand history, you'll understand the future. I assure you that a good historian becomes a prophet. I'm fully convinced that whether out there in that world or in the church, someone who knows Bible history becomes a prophet. All the Old Testament prophets were historians. They knew their history. They had studied history, every single one of them. They had a remarkable insight into what God done in the past, and do you know what? That was used of God for them to speak concerning the future. Let me bring you to this prophecy tonight, and I've got four points I want to give you here tonight if we manage it. My first point, the rise of grace. The rise of grace. We're going to begin looking here in verse 2. Read with me in this first point, the rise of grace. Remember, this is 200 years before the rise of grace. Now the angel is revealing to Daniel the process in history so that grace will be the next empire to arise in the world scene. It won't happen for 200 years, and yet God is revealing it to Daniel, and he's going to give the details of how it is going to happen and the area of where it's going to happen. Look at verse 2. And now will I show thee the truth. This is what the angel is saying. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. In other words, he's saying after the king that's in place now, there's going to be another three, yet three kings in Persia. When the angel is speaking to Daniel here, Cyrus the Great is the king of Persia. He is the first king of the Medo-Persian empire. But the angel is now giving a prophecy to Daniel and saying after Cyrus, there's going to be another three kings arise. You see, he wants to show him something and to teach him something of what's going to come. Do you realize Jews, although Daniel never lived to see all of this happen, there were going to be Jews or Bible believers living in every single generation who are going to read this and recognize it. They would be able to look in future history and find out, be encouraged in their generation, the prophecy was actually coming to pass. Now it says there's going to be three kings that arise up after Cyrus. Who were they? First of all was his son, Cambyses. The second one was another young man who only reigned for about eight months. His name was Smyrdas. The third one was Darius the Great. He was the third one. But look at the prophecy. Three kings are going to rise up in Persia. Count them. Well, we've just counted them. The third one was Darius the Great. Then he goes further in verse two, and the fourth shall be far richer than they all. Who was this fourth Persian king to arise after Cyrus? It was Xerxes the Great. He was a remarkable king. Do you know what history tells us? He was the richest Persian king that ever sat on the throne. Isn't that what Daniel? All this time before is prophesying king by king what's going to happen. But that fourth king he prophesies here is going to be richer than all of them that come before him. Do you know that Xerxes had the single largest hoard of gold in the world? He was the richest Persian king that sat on the throne. He taxed all the nations that he ruled over and even began to create his own tongues. He stole the idea from one of the Turkish nations. This was the first empire that had its own coins that it began to publish across the entire empire with his head upon it. It also says here that this king that's going to be the richest that by his strength and through his riches. Notice it talks about his strength and his riches. He's going to be a uniquely strong and a rich king. He'll be the richest king and the strongest of the kings. There's a prophecy here about him and it's very important. What's my first point? The rise of Greece. You may say what's this got to do with Greece that's going to arise in 200 years. Why are we receiving a prophecy about a Persian king that's going to reign in 50 years? Just watch and you will see what happens. Who was Xerxes? He is the king depicted in the book of Esther. He became the king who married Esther and she became the one that stood by his side. It's a remarkable story what we're reading about here. It says by his strength through his riches. Notice what's going to happen. He shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. This is 50 years after Daniel is receiving this revelation. There's no way he could have predicted this. Grecia was not a nation yet. It had more than 100 different kings scattered across it. Small tribes, peoples, city states. They all fought one another. They had the same language, the same culture and yet none of them could agree together. It was city against city. They were the most ununified people on the Mediterranean. Yet here's a prophecy that this fourth richest king, the richest of all the Persian kings, he is going to take all of his great wealth and he's literally going to use that wealth to stir up everybody against Grecia. Who could ever have prophesied this or imagined it? The prophecy says that this fourth king, who was Xerxes, is going to use his great wealth to stir up all of his forces and all of his army against Grecia. Do you know just a couple of months ago or three months ago on Christmas night, Candace went to bed early and I was just sitting there flicking through the channel. I was up in the north and usually I'm not in a situation with access to television. It was Christmas night. There was nothing on. All of it was rubbish and trash and I was flicking through and I came to the History Channel. All of a sudden, now I'm studying this for this entire series. I'm reading through Daniel 11 and that night, Christmas night, talk about providence. As I stopped on the History Channel, here came this entire two-hour history military documentary about Xerxes stirring up his entire empire. The richest king, the strongest king, stirring up his entire empire against Grecia. As I sat there, I think Candace walked through the room a couple of times. I hardly saw her. I was so fascinated by this. I went, this is the Lord in this. This is the Lord sitting before me. One small verse, one small verse in my Bible predicted beforehand and I'm watching a two-hour documentary of everything Xerxes done and throwing it against Grecia. Utterly amazing. Do you know that Xerxes raised an army of at least 500,000. Some say a million, others say 200,000. I'll go for the middle way and say 500,000. He stirred up an army of 500,000 men. They were well-trained. He prepared himself very carefully and he marched his way across present-day Turkey. When he reached the water to go across to Greece, if he marched round, it would take him a year. Do you know what he done? He bought up all of these sailing ships and he built a bridge right across into Greece. Saints, this was prophesied to Daniel beforehand. Now, Greece was in utter disunity and Xerxes knew he had marched on through the nation without much opposition at all. Have any of you ever heard of the story of the 300 Spartans that defended Greece? This is when it actually happened. Xerxes brought his great army into Greece, into Macedonia and began marching down through the nation. But there were 300 Spartans that decided to make their stand at the pass of Thermopylae and they stood there, 300 of them. They had several thousand other soldiers help them for a time who then escaped and these 300 soldiers stood in the gap for three days. It was a narrow pass and the entire force of Xerxes' army marching against them. I mean, you couldn't see the end of his army, but here's 300 dedicated Greek soldiers. Do you realize prophecy is being outworked? Do you realize something is happening here that's going to lead to the rise of Greece? This is not natural events. There were spiritual powers going on behind it. Now, those 300 Spartans were eventually beaten and destroyed by Xerxes' armies going through the mountains and coming in behind them and they were defeated, but those three days actually saved Greece. Next was the Battle of Siames. It was the greatest sea battle in world history. Xerxes sent his sea fleet. It was a massive military sea fleet and this was going to be the greatest battle on the seas that had ever happened. Do you know what happened? Do you know who won? The Greeks only had a small fleet of boats, but Xerxes had this massive army. Do you know who won? It was the Greeks. Do you realize what a shocking thing that Xerxes was actually defeated? This is about Esther chapter one. This is when it actually happens in the books. In the streets of Siames, the Greeks triumphed, although the Persians came and burnt the temple at Athens. In that one event, the Greeks would never forget what happened. Spartans joined with Athenians. In fact, Greece united together for the first time ever in its history and stood as a Grecian people together. It had never happened before. It was remarkable that God was using us to prepare the next empire. Xerxes didn't realize what he was doing, but God is working in all of this. Xerxes pulled back his forces, discouraged, disappointed that he would be defeated, and Greece carried on for the next hundred years with many small civil wars until it was united under King Philip, who was father of Alexander the Great. Saints, I'm telling you of something remarkable here. In Daniel's prophecy, it now jumps from that event, the stirring up against Grecia by Xerxes. It's very important you understand this because the very next verse jumps a hundred and fifty years. It doesn't bother mentioning another Persian king. None of them again came against Greece. None of them had the wealth of Xerxes. None of them had the military power of Xerxes. Xerxes alone had that position. Do you know what? Something was going to happen a hundred and fifty years later that was stirred by that attack of Xerxes. Look with me at verse three. Now we go a hundred and fifty years later. Verse three, and a mighty king shone. Do you know who that is? Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great, a hundred and fifty years later. Do you realize all this was revealed to Daniel in advance, looking down through the corridors of time? Don't you know our God is in control? You wonder if he sees you and understands your battles and understands what's going on in your heart. You maybe say, Lord, do you see what is happening? I assure you, our God knows everything. He sees everything. His hand is working in this generation. And so we see a mighty king shall rule dominion and do according to his will. This Alexander the Great, he stood up he stood up with great dominion and he did according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and should be divided to the four winds of heaven. Do you see again what it's talking here? This great prophecy about Daniel. Again, there was a spiritual warfare going on concerning Alexander and God's plan in the nations. This great king rose up and in a short period of 12 years, he conquered the entire known world. He actually, the history books tell us that about 3.30 p.m. on the 11th of June, in the year 323, he died in the city of Babylon of a fever. He had his whole future ahead of him. He had many plans to conquer many other regions, but look at this victorious young man. He died unexpectedly at the height of his power, only 10 years after his campaign to conquer the entire world. Utterly remarkable. Daniel knew that 200 years before. Daniel was given the inside details, the accurate prophecy, 200 years concerning Grecia. How it would rise to power about its first king that would lead it to triumph. What a remarkable thing here. But notice in verse 4 what else it says. He'll be broken, cut off. In other words, suddenly killed. He'll suddenly die at the very height of his power, and his kingdom shall be divided to the four winds of heaven. We know that that happened. Remember the leopard with four heads? It represented these four regions. Remember the four notable ones? The four winds of heaven showed that Alexander's Grecian empire will be split in four. Do you know when Alexander died, there was about 25 years of war. There were four civil wars between four of the regions, and it finally took 40 years before the four regions of the Grecian empire settled down with their line of leaders over them. Daniel knew this 200 years before, but when Alexander died, there was a ferocious civil war for power. Look what else is told to Daniel here, and not to his posterity. In other words, his own children will not rule. No one of his bloodline is going to rule over those four regions. When Alexander died, he had a half brother who actually was mentally retarded. He had a four-year-old son who was born to a Persian mother. In fact, she was his concubine. His name was Hercules, young four-year-old Hercules, but it wasn't a legal marriage. Neither was he chosen to be the heir by Alexander. And again, Alexander had three wives, but they weren't Greek. None of them were Greek. One of them, Roxanne, was pregnant with his child when he died, and they had to wait for this child to be born. Do you know all of these heirs were killed? There was no seed of Alexander the Great. How unlikely. Three wives, one concubine, a half brother, all of these family members, but none of your children are going to reign. You know what? That kingdom is going to be divided up, and so it was divided up. Since I'm showing you something and I'm taking you somewhere, you might say, what in all the world is this prophecy about? Where has Malcolmson taken us here? And I'm only getting started here tonight, but I'm showing you in this first point, there was a prophecy, and it was very important, about the rise of the Grecian Empire, then how it would be split into four. Now my second point, we go to just two of those regions, point two, wars between the kings of the North and the South. That's my second point. Not only the rise of the Grecian Empire, but now we're going to concentrate. We've already covered four verses, we've got the rest to cover now. From verse five through to verse 35, there are only two of the regions of the Grecian Empire dealt with, the Northern region and the Southern region. So from verse five to verse 35, it concentrates on two of the regions, either side of the small nation of Israel. The northern region is to the North of Israel, the Southern region is to the South of Israel. In fact, in these next verses, the word North is mentioned eight times, the word South is mentioned 11 times. We begin to read here in verse five about the King of the North and the King of the South, all the way through to verse 35. Since I'm showing you a prophecy that's going to lead us into the last days, and there's going to be some important information here that's going to affect the last days just ahead of us. If you understand what I say in this prophecy, if you begin to see it in your mind, you are going to understand what's going to happen in world events, in world politics, world leadership, in this generation, everything is being prepared. I assure you, Daniel was shown it accurately, just as he was about the rise of the Grecian Empire. He moves on and he gets another revelation here concerning these two regions and the wars that are going to take place between them. First of all, there's the King of the North, and second of all, there's the King of the South, and Israel is caught between them. Sometimes the King of the North would rule over Israel, then other times the King of the South would rule over Israel. In fact, at the time, just before verse 5, Jerusalem changed hands about six times in a short period of time. War was going to rage around the small nation of Israel. So from verse 5 to verse 35, we have another period of 162 years. This goes all through the 3rd and the 2nd centuries. If I was to go through this verse by verse, you wouldn't be blamed if you would think it was a tedious list of names, dates, battles, marriages, political intrigue, and you'd be saying, what has this got to do with the Lord Jesus Christ? You know the Holy Spirit has given us chapters like this. You know this chapter is very important, and I believe it's going to take on a great importance in our day and generation. It's not just boring details. Why is it that the Holy Spirit is now forgetting about two of the regions and just dealing with two? And he's specifically going to concentrate in upon the King of the North. That's going to be very important, and he's going to trace the King of the North right down to the very last days. Do you know in this period of 162 years, there's over a hundred prophecies in this short period of time. It's remarkable, but it's very selective. There are certain things missed out. Let me give you an example. Between verse 5 and verse 6 is a gap of 30 years. It's jumped over without mention, and yet over the next 162 years, there's a hundred prophecies concerning the King of the North, the King of the South, this nation called the Northern Kingdom, and this nation called the Southern Kingdom. Do you know that there was in the second century or third century after Christ, there was a pagan author or writer called Porphyry. He was a backslidden Christian, but a practicing pagan. You know when people turn against Christ and the gospel, they become very violent. If they were once a Christian, they become very antagonistic. Well, this pagan philosopher settled on the island of Salisbury and wrote 15 volumes against Christianity, against the church. In volume 12, he wrote entirely against the book of Daniel and Daniel's prophecy. In that 12th volume, he dealt with Daniel chapter 11. Remember, he's trying to discredit the Bible. He's trying to discredit the history in prophecy. He began to write, and he said, I believe Daniel 11 was only history written after the events. It wasn't prophecy written in the days of Daniel. Do you know the number one reason why he believed that from verse 5 to verse 35, it had to be written afterwards and not before? Do you know his number one reason against it? He said it is too accurate. In fact, in his volume, trying to disprove Daniel and the Bible, he went through this prophecy, every person, every event, and he was able to trace it accurately over a period of 162 years. He came to the conclusion, this prophecy is so absolutely accurate, it cannot be prophecy. It is history. Out of the mouth of a pagan skeptic, this prophecy is absolutely accurate. Now, I've got you worried that you think I'm going to go into every verse here. I'm not. I'm not. I'm going to give you the overall. Someday, we'll teach and preach this, but I won't do it tonight. But in verse 5, it begins to deal with the first king of the south and the first king of the north. Let me explain what is happening here in this prophecy, and then let me lead you to where it's taken us. In verse 5, there's a prophecy about the first king of the south, and he's mentioned there. His name is Ptolemy I of Egypt. He was a cousin of Alexander, and he was the first king of the south. This is one of the four regions of the Grecian empire that after the 25 to 40 years of warfare, it arose as a great empire in its own self. In verse 8, it's spoken about as Egypt. In the year 305, Ptolemy actually took the title of king for himself, and he became the king of the south. That's very important, and he ruled out of the city of Alexandria. In all of these four regions, they kept the Greek language. They kept the Greek culture. They kept the Greek learning, and yet they ruled over Egypt, over Turkey, over Greece, over Syria. That's what they've done, but Ptolemy actually started a dynasty that would reign for 300 years right down to the very last heir of the throne before Rome conquered them. That was Cleopatra. She was the very last queen of this Egyptian region of the Grecian empire. Do you know she had no Egyptian blood on her right down to the days of Augustus when Augustus, the emperor, took over Egypt. She was the last one of that Ptolemy line down through all of those centuries, and yet this prophecy follows that line from generation to generation, pulling out key prophecies. Do you know who the king of the south is? It is the king of Egypt, this southern region. Now, just keep that in mind for a second. The second area that is dealt with in this prophecy all through these years is the king of the north. That's what he's called. Who was the king of the north? That was the king of Syria. He's called Seleucus the first. He was the very first one, and you know what? He established also a family line that would reign over the Syrian empire. His kingdom was called the Seleucian kingdom, and it was established initially in the city of Babylon in the year 312 BC. Several years later, in the year 305, he built a new city 35 miles away north of Babylon, and this became his new capital. He called it Seleucia on the Tigris. A few years later, he built another capital called Antioch north of Jerusalem. This was his third capital, Babylon, Seleucia, now Antioch, where the apostle Paul would later be born. Now, here, this is why I'm summarizing because I don't want to lose you. In all of these verses, over a period of 167 years, we trace the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom, their wars, their marriages, and their political intrigue. You know why? God the Holy Ghost is trying to lead us to a certain bit of information that's going to be absolutely vital for us to understand. As we begin to trace down through this, we have fascinating bits of information down through these two nations, how they fought together. Let me give you just one of the portions here that is utterly fascinating. From verse 10 to verse 19, there was a king called Antiochus III, or Antiochus the Great. It was his son, who was later called Antiochus, that we dealt with before, who is a type of the Antichrist. He, Antiochus III, become the greatest Syrian king. Now, when I talk about Syria, I'm not talking about present-day Syria, and it's very important you know where Syria is. Ancient Syria was made up of Iraq and present-day Syria. It flowed in a great arch, and it became a great empire. Today, if you join Syria with Iran, you've got ancient Syria. This is going to be important for what I tell you next week. I am going to show you where Antichrist is going to arise. I'm going to show you what his nationality is. You see, this entire chapter of 11 is leading us down to a teaching about the last king of the north, the last Syrian king that's going to arise in the very last days, who we know as the little horn. That's why this prophecy is so important. That's why all of this prophecy is being laid out here. You know why? It's going to show us exactly in detail, and if I don't put this in place, you'll never understand what I'm going to teach you next week. I'm going to teach you details about Antichrist, his nationality, his geography, wars he is going to fight, things he is going to do, things that are going to happen. Since it's taught in the Bible, therefore we teach it. Do you understand now? You see, earlier in Daniel 7, we've seen with that four beasts, the Roman beast, the reviving of the political Roman beast, that the little horn is going to rise up out of Rome politically. We saw in chapter 7 what political system, what it's going to look like, how we recognize it, how it's going to be made manifest in the earth. There's going to be 10 kings over that Roman beast. That is the system Antichrist is going to come out of. Well, here in Daniel chapter 11, we have all of this information, all of this detail, all of this accurate prediction, all of this laid out over all these hundreds of years. Why is it being laid out? To show you where Antichrist is going to actually arise. Now from verse 10 to verse 19, we have just one of these northern kings, these Syrian kings, Antiochus III. In this detailed prophecy from verse 10 to verse 9, we actually have a prophecy concerning his final defeat by Egypt, his conquest of Israel, and then his final defeat by Rome. Do you know as well what we have in this prophecy, and it's contained here in Daniel chapter 11, that he gave his daughter Cleopatra, this is why I'm not going into all of this. Do you know how many Seleucias? You have all these Seleucian kings all named the same. You have all the Ptolemy kings named the same. You don't just have one Cleopatra, you'll have seven of them arise over the history of all of this. If I went through all of this, you would be so punch drunk with names, details, you wouldn't know who's who. This is why I'm trying to simplify it for you. But Antiochus III, do you know what he done? He actually took his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to a seven-year-old king of Egypt, and we have a prophecy about it. Daniel is given a prophecy about this Syrian king who will arise, and he's going to give his daughter Cleopatra to marry the king of the south. Do you know the Rosetta Stone? Some of you may know that the Rosetta Stone was a stone found about 200 years ago. There were three languages on it, and that became the key to unlock ancient languages. Do you know what's written on the Rosetta Stone? It was in three languages, the exact same thing, and it opened up the whole ancient world, all of ancient history. On that Rosetta Stone is the story how Antiochus III gave his daughter to marry the king of the south. It was prophesied to Daniel in Daniel 11. It is found inscribed, the story on the Rosetta Stone, and here we have it. That's only one of the things. Let me take you to my third point. The king of the north. We now move to the son of Antiochus III. It's a remarkable story. We've already seen him in Daniel 8. His name also was called Antiochus. Look with me at verse 21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably. That's how he's actually going to come in. There's a detailed prophecy here. We've already seen Antiochus Epiphanes in Daniel chapter 8. We've seen him called the little horn. He is a picture, a type, and a shadow of Antichrist. There are many details in his life which foreshadow what the Antichrist is going to do. I believe Antichrist will arise in the same region. There's going to be great similarities concerning geography and nationality to this Antiochus, this little horn that arose in that era. You see the little horn of Daniel 7 is the Antichrist. The little horn of Daniel chapter 8 was Antiochus. In Daniel chapter 9, we read of a prince who was going to come from a people who were Syrian. And here in Daniel chapter 11, we read about one, again, detailed in prophecy, who is going to stand up and he's a vile person. And you know what we say about him? He's going to be a king of the north. He is a Syrian king. He comes from a certain line. He comes from a certain area above Israel that encompasses the nation of Syria and the nation of Iraq. Do you know at the minute in world history, over the past 30 years, Iraq has been left in ruins. Now within the past 10 years, Syria has been left in ruins. These two areas are the ancient Syrian empire, Syria and Iraq, and they're left in ruins. Do you know what I believe? We're going to see a rise up and I'll show you further next week in this. But this little horn, this Antiochus is going to rise up. And what happened with him is going to happen again in the last days. He says a vile person, Daniel is told, shall stand up out of the Syrian kingdom, this northern region, and to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom. In other words, he was not next in line. He was the second son of his father. He was not next in line for the throne at all. He was actually held as a hostage in the city of Rome by the Roman empire. His father Antiochus III ruled over the whole northern Syrian empire. And young Antiochus would never rule. It wasn't his destiny. And yet Bible prophecy marked him out. And what would happen? It said that the kingdom shouldn't have been given to him, but he's going to gain it. How is he going to gain it? Peaceably, not in a war, not in a battle, but he's going to attain the kingdom through flattery. I believe the same way Antiochus come in, so Antichrist will arise on the world scene. The kingdom is not his, but he'll gain it by flattery. When Antiochus was a prisoner in Athens, after being a prisoner in Rome, he received word one day that his brother had been murdered. The king of the Syrian empire had been murdered. This is also prophesied in verse 20 that this would actually happen. Seleucus IV was murdered. Now what is going to happen? You realize at this time Antiochus IV returned to his nation and he said that he would stand as guardian for his young nephew, who was also called Antiochus, but he had him killed. Also, the other son Demetrius was in Rome as a captive. He married his brother's wife, who is also his sister, and he bore children to her. Do you know what he named himself? He called himself Antiochus Epiphanes, meaning God manifest. We looked at this in Daniel chapter eight. He wanted to be worshiped as a God. Everybody nicknamed him Antiochus Epoumenes, which meant madman. Not God manifest, but he was a madman. He was unhinged. He actually wanted to be worshiped as God and as the only king. He said over the Syrian empire, all the small countries under our power, there's only going to be one king, one religion, one culture, one language. Everything is going to merge in society. Religion is going to merge with politics, is going to merge with social culture and society. He began to merge the whole thing. You know how Antiochus came in? He came in with flatteries. He literally came in with flatteries. He began to bribe the people. He began to prepare the ground. He didn't gain it by an army, but he gained it by bribing nations, kings, leaders, even the Roman empire. We have an old document where he talked to the Roman authorities and he flattered them and said, I'll do anything you say. I'll give you anything that you want, but he was going to gain the power. He killed his nephew to gain the power. He married his sister to gain the power. What a wicked man. He was a vile man, an immoral man, an idolatrous man. And you know what? This was the man that was going to attempt to annihilate the nation of Israel, to stamp out Judaism, to merge all religions into one religion where he alone would be worshipped. He wanted the Greek culture to go everywhere. He wanted it to dominate everything. He didn't want anything else to exist apart from his own culture and his own religion. It says in verse 22, and with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him and shall be broken. Yea, also the prince of the covenant. He, once he gained power, he was going to raise up a great army. That's what the flood is. That's what the overflowing flood is. It is the arms. It is a military force that he's going to rise up and he's going to begin to march. Do you realize there's an accurate prophecy in these next verse about Antiochus, how he would attack the king of Egypt, the king of the south, how he would then invade Israel and triumph over Israel. In verse 22, when it talks about the prince of the covenant, it's talking about the high priest in Jerusalem. It's talking about how he would destroy him or how he would remove him, how he would invade the nation of Egypt. In the year 170, Antiochus invaded Egypt. Two of his nephews were fighting for the Egyptian throne. Both of them were Ptolemies and yet they were Antiochus' nephews. They were fighting. Do you know what he done? He came in with flattery. He came in to sign deals with them. He came in to say that he was going to help them. But do you know what? He wanted to conquer Egypt and make it part of Syria, make it a large empire in the Middle East that he could be triumphant. When he was actually down there, it says in verse 23, and after the league made he, he shall work deceitfully. He shall come up and shall become strong with a small people and he shall enter in peaceably, even upon the flatteries, the fattest places of the province. And he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers. He shall scatter among them the prey, the spoil and the riches. Do you know, he took the wealth of the nations and he redistributed it. Antiochus was known for going into regions, meeting told strangers, people of influence, and he would share his wealth with them. His father never done that. None of his fathers ever done that. It was utterly unique what he began to do. He made deals, he made covenants, he made deals with certain nations, and he brought in all of his power and influence by peace, by flattery. Aren't we seeing a picture of the rise of the Antichrist in the last days? He gained a great army. He stored up great wealth, but he began to distribute it. He He was notorious for spreading his wealth around those to gain power, to gain influence, to gain notoriety. It also says in verse 25, and he shall stir up his power and his courage against the King of the South with a great army. This was his second invasion of Egypt or the King of the South. He stirred up a great army and came down against the King of the South and he invaded it. But at the time he invaded and he was going to win and he was going to triumph. The Roman army landed with their great fleet of ships and actually stopped him in his tracks. The Roman ambassador came to Antiochus and he drew a circle around him in the sand and he says, I want you to draw back, leave Egypt alone, go home. And he says, you know what? You're going to make a decision before you step out of this circle. Well Antiochus said, okay, I'll do it. And he stepped out. But notice what happens next in verse 26, yea, they that feed of the portions of his meat shall destroy him and his army shall overflow and many shall fall down and be slain. And both these Kings hearts shall do mischief and they shall speak lies at one table. Both of them sat down at the table and made a league together, but they were lying to one another. But it shall not prosper the deals they're making for it is yet for the end and shall be at the time appointed. It says that after this and shall he returned to his land with great riches and his heart shall be against the Holy covenant and shall do exploits and return to his own people. And at the time appointed, he shall return and come towards the south, but it shall not be as the former or as the latter. In verse 30, it says for the ships of Shittim shall come against them. That's the Roman fleet of ships. Therefore he shall be grieved and return and shall have indignation against the Holy covenant. So shall he do. And he shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the Holy covenant. Do you know what happened here? This is a prophecy given to Daniel about Antiochus Epiphanes on what's going to happen when he's trying to destroy Egypt, making deals concerning what's going to happen. This fleet of ships of Shittim. The word Shittim means the Mediterranean, the isles of the Mediterranean or the islands to the west. This great fleet of ships landed and stopped him in his tracks. He got so angry that when he left Egypt after the Roman soldiers of Shittim stopping him with their great fleet of ships, he turned back and didn't get Egypt, but he stopped in Israel with vengeance. He had intelligence against the Holy covenant. And verse 31, it says, and arms shall stand on his part and he shall pollute the sanctuary of his strength. He's going to go into that temple and he shall take away the daily sacrifice and they shall place the abomination that make us desolate. Do you realize what Antiochus has done? He was turned back and he goes into the land of Israel, into the temple, and he puts up the abomination of desolation. He stops the sacrifice and he begins to massacre the people as we dealt with in Daniel chapter 11 and verse 32, and such as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he corrupt with flatteries. This was in the year 167, do you know many of the Jews that compromised, they wanted Greek culture, they wanted to be like this world. They moved away from the Bible, this Antiochus, this little horn, this type and shadow of the coming Antichrist. He actually entered into a covenant with them with flatteries, these compromisers amongst God's people. You know what? I believe there's going to be a lot of compromise in this hour. There is an Antichrist spirit afoot and don't be shocked at how you see many churches begin to compromise with abortion, LGBT, with legislation that's wrong. Do not be surprised what begins to happen in our generation. Do you know what happened when the abomination of desolation stood in Israel, in Jerusalem? Yes, there were compromisers. There were those who entered into a covenant with Antiochus, but there were others who rose up against it. We have the books of first and second Maccabees that give us the history of what happened in those days. There was a priest of the line of Sadoc called Matthathias. He had four, five godly sons and his oldest son was called the hammer and you'll see why in a second. This Matthathias fled Jerusalem and went into the hills when he seen the abomination of desolation. You see, he'd read the book of Daniel. He knew about the abomination of desolation. He knew what was coming, the persecution of the Jews were about to begin. As soon as he seen Antiochus put the abomination of desolation, he ran with his family for the hills and he went, this is it. This is the great persecutor. We have read Daniel chapter eight and this is the hour. We have read Daniel chapter 11. This is him that Daniel prophesied about. Isn't the Bible a remarkable book that it predicts the future? Well, Matthathias fled and in his little village, eventually the influence of this reached it. An ambassador from the Syrian kingdom of Antioch eventually reached his village, came into his village, set up an idol and said, we want all of you to worship at it. There was one Jew stepped forward and began to worship at it and Matthathias couldn't take any more. He drew his sword out, stepped forward and killed the compromising Jew. Next, he killed the official that had come to the village and he raised up a rebellion. This was the beginning of the Maccabean revolt. It was raised up by a godly family. When you begin to read about this family, they were spiritual. They were on fire for God. They believed in Bible prophecy and because they knew Daniel's prophecy, they knew what was happening in their hour. Do you know they read a very specific prophecy for them? You see, Daniel 11 is about Antiochus, the abomination of desolation. It was going to be fulfilled in history, but it had a very clear message to a certain group of people in that hour. Let me close with this tonight. Daniel 11 and the second half of verse 32. You see, Daniel was given a prophecy for God's people in the hour when the abomination of desolation would be set up. Verse 32, but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. As these Maccabeans read Daniel, they saw a prophecy from all of those centuries before by Daniel for them, that people that do know their God shall be strong. Do you know what these Maccabeans said? We want to know God. We know the scriptures. We know the Bible prophecies and they were strong in their knowledge of God. And it was them who are going to rise up in that hour and lead a revolt. They were going to stand righteous. They weren't going to compromise. They would never worship this false God. They would never submit the written scriptures. They were going to preach. They were going to guard their families. They were going to rise up against this abomination of desolation. They were going to do exploits in their generation. It's remarkable that these men could read Daniel's prophecy. They discerned the hour they lived in. They came to understand the hour that they were living in. They saw the rise of the King of the North. They saw his actions. They could read it in Daniel 11 and they said, this is the hour. This is where we're living in Bible prophecy. And they said, you know what? We know what we're to do. We that know God are going to be strong and do great exploits. We're going to do heroic works. We're going to act in faith. We're going to love the Word of God. Verse 33, and they that understand among the people shall instruct many. Those who understand at such an hour are going to teach many. There is a teaching ministry. There is a preaching ministry. When you begin to see the signs come to pass, it's time to preach. Saints, it's time to be strong. It's time to do great exploits. In this hour and generation, don't you see Bible prophecy coming to pass? Don't you see the stage being set for the last fulfilling of Bible prophecy? Aren't we meant to be strong in our God? Aren't we to understand? Those who understand in this hour are going to instruct many. It says then, of these that instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, and many days. What a remarkable prophecy. The Maccabeans were told, yes, you're going to rise and do exploits. But you know what? Many of you, a great many of you are going to die. You're going to suffer. Your wives, your children, your family are going to suffer. But you know what? In the midst of that, you're going to teach many. Verse 34, and when they shall fall, they shall be hoping with a little help. But many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall to try them, and to purge them, and to make them white, even until the time of the end, because it is yet for a time appointed. Since it is remarkable what happened, and if we can't learn from history, we'll never know what's going to happen in our day. If we can't look back and interpret Bible history, we'll never look back forward and interpret Bible prophecy. I am showing you something here remarkable, and we're going to continue on this next week. And we're going to see, we're going to bring it right up. This chapter 11, it begins tracing through the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, down to Antiochus, and then it's going to jump to the very last days, the end of the end. And this is my fourth and final point as I close, the last king of the north. We're going to look at it next week. In verse 34, it says that all these things that happened to the Maccabeans will continue even to the time of the end, because it is yet for a time appointed. You know, these last verses of this chapter have never been fulfilled. They never happened in history, no, not once. Antiochus did not fulfill them. Antiochus is three things. He is a shadow of the Antichrist. In other words, when you look at him, you begin to see something of the common Antichrist, the last king of the north. He is also an anti-type. In other words, there's things here in this prophecy about Antiochus that are yet to be fulfilled. And thirdly, it's a prophecy. There is a prophecy here that is yet to be fulfilled. In Antiochus, we see a type, an anti-type, a shadow. And a prophecy of what's going to happen at the very end of time. And I believe the book of Daniel will be discovered by many Jews. There's going to be Jews converted during the great tribulation. I believe when they see the Antichrist come in with flatteries, begin to gain power, sign a seven-year covenant with compromised Jews, there's going to be many Jews, many Israelis, that begin to discern the hour that they live in. When they see the abomination of desolation spoken about by Daniel, that Jesus said again would happen in the last days, they're going to flee to the hills like the Maccabeans done. They're going to say, this is the hour, and it's time for us to know our God, to be strong, to do exploits, and to teach many concerning the hour that we live in. This is all going to be outplayed one more time at the end of time. Do you realize how God is absolutely in control of world history? Do you hear me tonight as we close? God is absolutely in control of your life. Why are you afraid right now, when we are at the very brink of the fulfilling of all Bible prophecy, and God is going to have people like Daniel who are going to pray, who are going to understand, who are going to preach, who are going to teach. I believe that's why we're teaching on this tonight. Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, help us. Lord God, so many details, so many facts. Don't let this be lost tonight. Lord God, even amidst the inability of the preacher, Lord God, help us to understand what the theme, the central truth, what the lesson of this chapter is. It's showing us what is just about to happen in the last days. Father, you've always had a people in every generation. You've always had a people who know you. You've always had a people who become strong in the knowledge of you, and people who are going to do great exploits, great heroic works of faith, and that people are going to teach many in an hour of darkness. That people, many of them are going to fall, but it's to test the hearts, to try them. Many are going to flatter them and stick to them, but to betray them. But I ask of you, oh God, prepare us to be a people who can see afar off, who know the hour that we live in, in Jesus' mighty name. This is just preparation for next week. I'm sorry it's detailed. I'm sorry if I lose you in this message here. I'm sorry if it's not as exciting as preaching about Christ crucified. But do you know what? It is the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and it lays the foundation for me to actually teach you next week, concerning what's going to happen in the last days. God bless you here.