(Daniel) a Chapter of Detailed Prophecy — Willie Mullan

Daniel 11 as a Long and Difficult Prophetic Chapter

786 please, 786, Lord speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of thy tone as thou hast sought, so let me seek thy erring children lost and lone, and listen for the tune please. The book of Daniel chapter 11 and you can see that it's a very long chapter this evening.

There are 45 verses in the chapter and so we're not taking the whole chapter into mind. But this chapter is not only a long chapter. I confess to you that it's a very difficult chapter. There are difficulties here and as usual in the class we shall not pass by one of the difficulties we believe in facing things in this class sometimes when I go to some of the great so called great commentaries and I'm looking for something the thing that I can see clearly and that any kid could see clearly they've written pages about it.

And then the thing that I'm stuck with they must have been stuck with too for they never say a word about it. And I find out that the commentary is not so wonderful at all so that I need to get on my knees and take time and let the Holy Ghost talk to me.

Yes it's a long chapter, it's a difficult chapter. It's a prophetic chapter. I want to explain that I want to say that it's not a vision that Daniel had. You know we have been looking at visions before this.

You remember that Nebuchadnezzar had that great vision of this great image with the head of gold and so on. And then you remember that Daniel himself had the vision of the four beasts. You remember that he had another one and saw the ram and the eagle.

We looked at these great visions and we got light and we got help and inspiration from them. But this is something that the angel is saying to Daniel. You remember where we were last week see verse 18 of chapter 10.

Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man and this sense of me and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me I was strengthened and said let my Lord speak for thou hast strengthened me.

Then said he, knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee. And in verse 21 he gives the answer but I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truths. And it's a pity that the chapter division comes in there because this first verse belongs to the saying also I, it's the angel you know in the first year of Darius the mid, even I stood to confirm and strengthen him and now will I show thee the truth.

So this is this great angel that came to give Daniel understanding and knowledge. He's now going to show Daniel something that must be noted in the scriptures of truth and he's bringing him truth. Truth of course that concerns him and concerns his nation the people of Israel.

And when this was given by the shining angel to Daniel remember it was all prophecy at that moment. It was all in the future. Yes but as we started to make a great part of it is history now and that's where the argument rages just where are we in the chapter.

How much has been fulfilled. How much is past. And is history now that was prophecy then where does the history stop in the chapter. Where does the prophecy. That's still future begin. And the scholars are having trouble getting it settled.

Some of the great bible prophetic teachers such as Newton and Pregelius and many of the other famous men that one has enjoyed and has been enriched from. They believe that only the first five verses only the first five are history now.

And then you go on from there. Now there's another school and they believe that the first twenty verses are history now. Dr. Ironside, Dr. Schaefer G. H. Lanyon then the others now that's the place that I think I think that I can prove that the first twenty verses here tonight are history now.

Now I want to say to the class that while it's a long chapter and a difficult chapter and a prophetic chapter it's a very detailed chapter. It gives us little details. There are details even about Cleopatra in this chapter that might amaze you.

You know she's not a great personage of history. I know that the historians here know about her and she's not very important to bible scholars. I suppose Philem Gores who saw Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor playing in Cleopatra.

You didn't think I knew that. But I do I suppose you know something of the story of this young woman. Well we'll get down to it when you see it in the scriptures it looks much better here. But there are details just like that in the chapter that makes it a very detailed chapter of prophecy now we're not dealing with the whole chapter.

We're only dealing as you can see we're dealing with the historical bit now. That's past, it's past history. But I want you to remember that it was prophecy then in fact you know when you get down to it and see how very wonderfully the angel outlined the details of coming history for Daniel.

Some of the modernists they say it's too exact it's too detailed. It must have been written afterwards now that's a very subtle way out of it. Isn't it. One of them said to me you know the details are too good.

They're too good for God. He said you know there are so many details about history in this chapter that it couldn't possibly be done the way back then because that's one of those characters that doesn't know his God.

He's just limiting God. You would never limit God. I hope I said would you like to tell me when it was written. Well you know so much about it. He said it must have been written away in the time of the Maccabees just before Christ was born.

And all that's in the first 20 verses were really fulfilled just at that point. He knew when he was alright he said after it was fulfilled they must have written it down. Well I can tell you this. I said to him that about 130 years after the Maccabees our Lord Jesus Christ came on the scene.

And one day talking to his own he said to them when thou seest the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet when you see it come to pass. So he didn't think it was all fulfilled. He believed there was a great part yet future.

Now I don't think that it's even fair for modernists to take this subtle slant of doing the devil's work. I think that we'll see alright that God through the angel was given Daniel a very detailed, prophetic picture of the days that lay just ahead of Daniel.

The Five Historical Themes in Daniel 11

And so you can see that we are going to look at it this evening under these five headings we are going to look first of all at the potentates of Persia because the angel begins with Persia. Persia was reigning then and he gives all the details that lies ahead for the Persian nation.

And then after the Persians were overthrown of course by Alexander the Great then comes in the greatness of Greece. And although Greece wasn't even thought about in Daniel's day yet the details are here and they fulfill the history of Greece.

Alright and then of course we come to the end of the great reign of Alexander the Great and you know from history and there are historians around me you know that I have to be very careful you historians know at least that his great world empire was divided into four towards the four wings of heaven.

There was a kingdom on the north and the south and one all the way out on the west and one out on the east. And of course these details are given here before the Persian empire had come to an end at all or Alexander or Greece was ever thought about and you can see that the greatness of Greece and how it was broken.

Then we come to look tonight at the energy of Egypt because Egypt was one of those four kingdoms it was actually the one on the south. And then we come not only to look at the energy of Egypt but the strength of Syria for Syria was the one on the north and so we are looking down this 20 verses, this paragraph at the potentates of Persia and the greatness of Greece and the energy of Egypt and the strength of Syria.

And then I shall bring in some of these very precise details of prophecy and that's the preciseness of prophecy so you know where we're going and what we're doing. The first verse of the chapter is a parenthetical one in the companion bible and many others there is a parenthetical, there are parenthetical marks at this first verse, it's actually a parenthesis.

It's the angel who was talking in chapter 10 going on talking saying also I in the first year of Darius the medieval I stood to confirm and dispense with him. And the first verse doesn't matter but he comes to the now and now will I show thee the truth.

So you can almost see Daniel sitting at the angel's seat and the angel who knew the truth could be noted in the scripture of truth. It's telling Daniel now some of the details that will take place in this great Persian empire.

Do you remember that last week at chapter 10 that the chapter began like this in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia. So let me set the date for you. We're in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia.

The Persian Kings and the Rise of Alexander

That's where Daniel was just then. And so the angel is saying to him verse 2 behold there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. It will be three more kings and I put the names on your notes for you Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes and another Darius.

There's Darius the first and the second. That's something we must keep in mind. And then he says 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.

So you can see that the four kings of Persia and this is a fact of history. In fact all you need to do to find out this is to get the Encyclopedia Britannica. You just get it and get Cyrus and get the year that he was there and see how many kings of Persia are behind him and see who the fourth one was.

And it's Artaxerxes and he's the great and rich one and he's the man who went to make trouble with Greece. Now that's where the kingdom of Persia ended. Let's remember that when you flash across a verse like that and take a few words in and a few phrases remember that you're sweeping over about 45 years just like that try to get the time factor in.

Yes one, two, three kings go by just like a flash. It doesn't happen day after day they all reign a little bit and then the fourth fell and that's where the kingdom of Persia ended. You see when he went to stir up trouble with Greece a great general there took command of the Grecian army and he was called Alexander and he was Alexander the Great and he overthrew the Persians and he ruled the world.

And so we don't need to linger too long this evening with these potentates of Persia. But let's see this, the greatness of Greece you see verse three and a mighty king shall stand up that shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will.

And then he shall stand up just when he's at the peak of his power for his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven. And because we've seen this already haven't we this has already been told to us in this book.

Greece Divided into Four Kingdoms

Let's go back to Daniel 8 just for a moment and this is the chapter where Daniel got the vision of the ram and the he-goat. And just in case anyone would think that we gave a wrong interpretation to the ram or the he-goat read verse 20 because this is where the angel's interpreting it for Daniel we're at Daniel 8 verse 20 the ram which thou saw'st having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia and the rough goat is the king of Grecia and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king who is Alexander.

Now that being broken whereas four stood up for it four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation. And of course this is exactly what happened. Alexander overthrew the Persians. He conquered the world in no time at all.

It is said somewhere in history that he sat down and cried because there were no more worlds to conquer. And when he was 33 years of age just at the peak of his power he died. So this all books a great book.

You know this is all prophecy to Daniel. You know it's all history now but you can see that these things have been fulfilled. You can see chapter 11 again it says verse 4 when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven.

Now here's a bit of detailed prophecy not to his prosperity nor according to his dominion which he ruled for his kingdom shall be plucked up even for others beside those. You see when Alexander the Great died and this is just plain history the great Grecian empire was divided into four and the four portions of that great empire were toward the four winds.

There was a kingdom on the north and a kingdom in the south the kingdom in the east, the kingdom in the west now up in the north one of his generals took over a man called Seleucius and he became the king of Syria.

Down in the south there was another general in the army called Ptolemy and he took command of the south and he became the king of Egypt. Now I know who took over the west it was called Macedon and I know who took over the east which was called Thrace.

But scripture here in this chapter doesn't take the west or the east in anymore. The angel just went on to show Daniel what the king of the south and the king of the north would do to each other. That's why I say that the boys that stop at chapter 5 they're stopping far too quick because these things went on.

In fact I believe this that the reason why the angel gave Daniel this detailed prophetic outline of history I believe it was to let them see the sorrows that would come upon his people. You see if you get Alexander the Great dying at 33 and his kingdom is divided into four.

If you get Syria up in the north if you get Egypt down in the south you know what lies in between Syria and Egypt. It is Palestine that touches Syria there Palestine that touches Egypt there. And then the king of the north and the king of the south went to war.

Egypt, Syria, and the Suffering of Palestine

These were the wars of the middle east at that time. Well the battleground was Palestine and it was Daniel's people that got amused. And the angel actually giving Daniel a detailed prophetic vision of what lies ahead that he might know the sorrows that his people will pass through.

And so this chapter takes up from verse 5 down to verse 20 these wars between the king of the south which is Egypt and the king of the north which is Syria. When we use the word south what do we mean?

You need to have some sort of direction. Well it's the land south of Palestine that is Egypt. When we use the king of the north why do we say north? Because it's the land directly north of Palestine and that is Syria and the battleground Palestine was in between.

Well this is a very detailed prophetic paragraph now from verse 5 right down to verse 20 and that brings us to look at the energy of Egypt. Look at verse 5. And the king of the south this is one of these generals of Alexander's taken over this great kingdom in the south.

And the king of the south shall be strong and one of his princes and he shall be strong above him and have dominion. And this is perfectly true in history that the most prolific did take the kingdom there was one of his princes who became greater even than himself and have dominion and his dominion shall be a great dominion.

How detailed the thing is. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together. Now I think that we want to stop and think there just for a moment because if the king of the south made himself so strong and became such a mighty dominion then there must have been wars and battles somewhere.

And I think that they battled with the king of the north. And I think I'm going to prove that just now because when these two get together and have this amalgamation and have their differences settled it says.

And in the end of years and again mark the time flying past and in the end of years they shall join themselves together for the king's daughter of the south and her name was Berenice. And all the historians know the story of Berenice because the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north.

You know this is exactly what the king of the south did. You know after he got this great dominion and had this amalgamation with his other prince then he sent his daughter Berenice to the king of the north and it was Antiochus who was the king up in Syria just then and he divorced his own wife and disinherited his own son and married Berenice and then wickedly murdered her.

Now that's all history. But there were details given here in Daniel that's amazing and would amaze the historians. In fact so amazes them that they think it was written afterwards rather than before. But we're not just stopping with the details because they don't matter too much to a class like this.

We're putting them in as they go quickly. Verse 6. 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 retain the power of the arm. Neither shall he stand on 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. Now watch this.

But but these buts are very carefully put in but out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate now. That's very interesting because she had a brother back there. She had a brother called Ptolemy too who became Ptolemy the second.

And watch this out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate and 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.

So I hope you're watching this because I'm not wanting to linger on the details. Nor do I want to pretend to be a historian because while history interests quite a few of you in this meeting it certainly doesn't interest me.

I just happen to have to know and put my nose in the history book to learn but I detest it. I would rather stick to the old book. I'm just a bible preacher but in occasions like this I just have to know what the history is all about.

And the bible amazes me. And it's this end that I want to get over that the book we hold is the word of God. It must be because the details are amazing. And this fellow Ptolemy the second or the third maybe he was.

He went up now and he prevailed against the king of the north see verse 8. And so was the charlie captains of Egypt their gods with their princes with their precious vessels of silver and of gold. And he shall continue more years.

That is he shall continue more years as conqueror than the king of the north. Now while these wars were going on in the middle east at that time daniels people and daniels country was having a hard time.

First it was the king of the south going north. Then it was the king of the north coming south. And these battles continued for quite a number of years. You see for you younger students in the class tonight let me say this try and remember this that when the last dot of your old testament is placed there at malachi it is treasure that is in command of the world.

The Intertestamental Wars and Daniel’s People

Don't forget that and all the details are given in daniel. Yet hosea, joel, amos, obadiah, jonah, micah, nahum, habakkuk, zephaniah, haggad, zechariah, malachi are all on the treasure. Now between the last dot in treasure and the first word in machias gospel there are 400 silent years.

We call them 400 of them. Now it is in those silent years that alexander comes up and overthrows the last persian king. And it is just a few years after he exerts his strength and shows his power that he suddenly dies at the age of 33 that his kingdom is divided into four and there is one part in the north and one part in the south.

And it is a wave there in those years coming up to 100 years and it is 100 years before christ was born that these wars took place. So you know where we are. And daniels people was getting no word from their god for god was silent.

The maccabees come in there and they did make a stand. There is no question but you can see that these wars must have been given daniels people a terrible time. You see what i am edging round to and what i will edge round to.

Why did god allow it. We just take your time because we will maybe fit in later this evening when north and south goes to war. But lets get the thing done a bit more properly. We are way down at verse 9.

Now after carrying the captives and the gold and the silver back to his own country it says verse 9 so the king of the south shall come into his kingdom and shall return into his own land. Now we are at verse 10 and his son.

Now you could go wrong here if you didn't take your time because after talking so much about the king of the south doing so many wonderful exploits as you may be allowed to say that you might think that its talking about his sons but its not.

Its talking about the sons of the king of the north. And i will explain that to you just as we read. But his sons shall be set up and you know this is the most interesting thing because these two sons are mentioned in the encyclopedia Britannica.

If you have it at home it is volume 24 it is page 604. I can't go close unless I have brought all the books with me. But you will find the two sons mentioned there and they are the two sons of the king of the north.

But you will get it clearer in scripture. But his sons shall be set up and shall assemble a multitude of great forces and one shall certainly come. And that is very wonderfully put because encyclopedia Britannica says that these two boys who set up this great force preparing for battle one fell off the horse and broke his neck and only one comes.

Of course this book is a great book that you are reading out of. Don't you ever think that I am quoting encyclopedia Britannica to hold up this book. I am quoting this book to show that they must have done their homework.

Encyclopedia Britannica the bible is right must be right. Now watch this 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 this house shall be moved with colour and the word means anger and shall come forth and fight with him even with the king of the north.

That's why I knew the two boys were the sons of the king of the north because the king of this house going to meet him even with the king of the north. And he now watch it again because you can go wrong if you don't watch.

And he that is the king of the north shall set forth a great multitude. But the multitude shall be given into his hands and that is the king of the south. The fellow that came out with anger really stopped him.

Now how am I sure. Just watch me now. And when he hath taken away the multitude and I say it's the king of the south his heart shall be lifted up and he shall cast down many fountains but he shall not be strengthened by it.

Winning that battle didn't help him for the king of the north shall return didn't tell you it was the king of the south because the king of the north is going to return now. I'm not doing that to let you know that I just know exactly every detail.

That's there I'm doing this that you might realise what happened in the land of Palestine. First it's the king of the north. Then it's the king of the south. Then it's the king of the north. Then it's the king of the south.

And these Middle East wars, battles, raids for years and years and years and Daniel's heart must be sore looking on at this see verse 13. For the king of the north shall return and 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 be many stand up against the king of the south. King of the north had a great army and a lot of other boys joined in too. Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves now.

That's a wee bit you must get in. You know when war is wretched even tonight when we're at sixes and sevens here in our province and we might see it just like this, it's like a battle from the king of the north and the king of the south you know there are a lot of boys running about and they would sell their grandmother for to make money just at this time.

And they're the robbers of thy people. They're the robbers. A fellow was telling me that the man was shot the other day just the other week or two back two doors from me. He says I says poor creature poor creature nothing happened.

He says he's been selling guns to the IRA and then selling them to the UDA and he's been working both ways. And you get into trouble. If you do that sort of thing you're asking for trouble and in this land you'll get it.

He's one of the robbers of thy people. And you know friends this is what was happening in these wars. There were Jews who were prepared to stand in with the king of the south when he came up with a big army and they were prepared to stand in with the king of the north when he came down with a bigger one.

It's a great book you're reading out of. Maybe this chapter would be so difficult for you. You'd give it up and throw it down. But if you get it put out piecemeal it's wonderful. You know not so difficult at all.

It's all there and it stares at you clear and clean in the face. Let me get this over because this is what I must get over friend from this day forward. You remember that the book you hold in your hand is God's word.

That's what I want this class to get. It's what I'm responsible for. You treasure that this book must not be thrown around. This is God's holy word and there are wonderful things in it. But let's get on with this verse 14.

Antiochus, Palestine, and the Detailed Prophecy of Cleopatra

And in those times there shall stand up many against the king of the south. You know we've come quite a long way because this king of the south at this particular verse he is Ptolemy the fifth. We began with Seleucius and then Ptolemy the first and then we let Ptolemy the fifth.

Now the historians here know this. When he came to the throne he was only 12 years of age. Well this wee fellow got a very unhappy throne. And no wonder the king of the north is giving him a lacing just now.

And no wonder the robbers of Daniel's people old Jews that were out to make money no wonder they were standing in with the king of the north it says. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south.

Also the robbers of thy people shall exhaust themselves to establish the vision because they pretended that they were standing up for prophecy. But they shall fall. They made the biggest mistake of their lives because the man they were standing with was Antiochus the great and he destroyed their temple eventually.

But let's take our time. Verse 15. So the king of the north shall come and cast up a mountain 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. That's the king of the north coming against this wee fellow shall do according to his own will and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land that must have touched Daniel's heart.

Because that's what God wanted to do. God wanted Daniel to see what his people were going to pass through in the years that lay immediately ahead. And the glorious land is the land of Palestine which by his hand shall be consumed.

They really went through terrible times. He the king of the north shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom. And upright one's wisdom. When we get that sort of phrase it just means that he's bringing counsellors to try to get an upright agreement.

Thus shall he do. And he shall give him. That is he shall give this wee fellow the daughter of woman corrupting her. Now that's where Cleopatra comes in. Because those of you who used to go to the pictures and you know something about the story you know that Ptolemy the fifth was just 12 years old on the throne of Egypt.

And you know that the king of the north gave him his daughter Cleopatra and she was only 12. I wonder do you remember the story. Because I can tell you that while I hold no votes for Elizabeth Taylor or Richard Burton they did it pretty well.

Let me tell you that because I had to look through the book of the film once just to see for my own information I've got to look at things I wouldn't advise you to do and it was pretty well done. And the pictures that were there amazed me that this young king on the throne was given this young girl at 11 years of age and her father instructed her that she would really overthrow the kingdom of the south.

But it turned out different. She fell in love with the wee fellow and she overthrew her father. She went against him. I can tell you this the angel told it to Daniel long before Richard Burton was ever dreamed about.

I can tell you that here it is right in the book. It's very thrilling to me you know watch it in the middle of verse 17 life shall he do and he shall give him the daughter of woman corrupting her wee girl of 11 being married to a fellow of 12 but she shall not stand on his side that is on her father's side neither before him she turned against him.

That's what the whole theme of the film is about. If you remember now we're at verse 18 after this shall he, that is the king of the north turn his face onto the isles. You know he's turning away from Egypt.

He can beat Ptolemy, he's only a kid he has overrun Palestine till he's fed up. He's turning outside now going towards the isles going towards Mastodon. Yes that's the blunder he made and he shall turn his face onto the isles and shall take many.

But a prince did you get that, that was pretty well put now that's a very interesting one because that's a Greek, that's a Hebrew word that's there for prince it's the word Kuzin K-U-Z-I-N and let me tell you it's only once in the Bible so you have it before you.

I know that we get the word prince many times it talks about Messiah the prince but it was a different word at least it's very filling to me. I'm not a Hebrew scholar, nor do I pretend to be and I have to learn at their feet.

But there's a man called Wigram who is probably in my humble estimation the greatest Hebrew scholar that ever lived. And we have a man in the meeting now who knows a lot about Hebrew and Greek and I think he would know this that the word Kuzin it means general.

It's not proper translated prince. Now this is the first time and the only time in the Bible where you get this word for general. And once we get this general coming into this this is the beginning of the Roman Empire.

And this fella turned his face the way out to the isle. There was a prince over there. He was one of the Roman generals. I can give you his name all right. And it doesn't matter he met him face to face.

This was the beginning of the end of both the king of the north and the king of the south. Because Rome was going to take over because you would know this wouldn't you? You young people ought to know this that the last dot in Malachi it is Persia that's reigning 400 silent years.

Then comes Alexander the Great and that's Greece. He dies at 33. Then his kingdom is divided into four and we get the king of the north and the king of the south in these middle east battles. But then your new testament opens.

It is Rome that is ruling the world because the day that Jesus Christ was about to be born it was Caesar Augustus that commanded the whole world of the titles he talked about. He was just the boss. So that Rome is in charge when your new testament opens.

And this is the first glimmer of it. It's very interesting isn't it? You see this. 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 that's the king of the north. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land. But he shall stumble and fall not the sound he was overthrown. Then shall stand up in his estate in his place in the place of the king of the north.

Another king, a razor of Texas. This fellow is going to work it another way in the glory of the kingdom. Of course he's going to get money so that he can pay all these boys that might come against him.

It's one way of keeping the enemy at bay. Pay them. It never pays it says then shall stand up in his estate a razor of Texas in the glory of the kingdom. But within few days he shall be destroyed neither in anger nor in battle.