From Babylon to Jerusalem - (Daniel) ch.11 & 12 — Zac Poonen

Daniel 11: Gabriel’s Message and God’s Sovereignty

Now to Daniel chapter 11. In our last study we were considering how this angel Gabriel came and spoke to Daniel, spoke of the conflict he had with the evil spirits that were governing the kingdom of Persia.

And chapter 11 is a continuation of what the angel is saying to Daniel, the whole chapter is a continuation of what the angel is saying to Daniel concerning events that were to take place subsequent years.

We know that all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable our spiritual perfection. And therefore we believe that this passage of scripture also is inspired by God and is profitable for us in perfection.

Even though it's actually just a recounting of history that would take place in the future. I mentioned that the first six chapters of Daniel were history recorded after the events took place and the last six chapters of Daniel were history recorded before the events took place or what we call prophecy.

And chapter 11 is particularly significant in this connection because it gives a whole lot of details and the great value for us as we see this chapter and compare it with the history of the world at that particular time is to see the exactness with which everything that the angel told Daniel was literally fulfilled down to the last letter.

And therefore God has laid it down in the scriptures for our encouragement to know that what is prophesied concerning the future events as well will also be fulfilled exactly and literally. And so the angel continues to speak to Daniel and says in the first year of Darius to me I that is the angel Gabriel arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him.

Darius had some type of fear of God through the influence of Daniel as we saw in the earlier chapters particularly chapter 6 and so the angel Gabriel protected him no doubt as a result of Daniel's prayer and there we see how our prayers influence the angels of God to protect world leaders who need to be protected for the furtherance of God's purposes.

And that's why we are told in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 1 to pray for prime ministers I mean paraphrasing it for today presidents kings those in authority so that we can lead a peaceable life. Daniel's prayers affected the ruling of Darius over the kingdom and now the angel continues to say now I will tell you the truth he says behold three more kings are going to arise in Persia and that was literally true in history we don't want to go into all the details but history tells us there were three more kings after that in Persia and then a fourth will gain more riches than all of them and history tells us that that was a king called Xerxes who was the richest of all the Persian kings and as soon as he becomes strong through his riches he will arouse the whole Empire against the realm of Greece and that's another thing we read in history that the Persian king Xerxes when he got puffed up because of his riches and his wealth decided to go and render a crushing blow upon the Greeks and he did not succeed and that was the end of the Persian Empire and the kingdom of the Greeks began to take over from that point.

But the significant phrase we read here is when he becomes strong in other words when he gets puffed up there's a verse in Psalm 75 which says that God raises up one and puts down another. Psalm 75 verse 7 God is the judge and that is something that we have seen right through the book of Daniel what it says in Psalm 75 7 God raises up one puts down another.

And this is why we have faith when we pray for those in authority in the land that God is in control. Otherwise we would be wasting our time in prayer. So when he becomes strong God pushes him down and then we read a mighty king will arrive that is in the realm of Greece and that is Alexander the Great as we read in history.

And he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases soon as he has arisen or in other words as soon as he has come to a great height and magnified himself and puffed himself up he will be his kingdom will be broken up.

The same old story again he gets puffed up and God pushes him down and that's exactly how we read in history. And his kingdom will then be parceled out or divided into four parts. And let me read to you at this point from the Good News Bible kings that have not descended from him will rule in his place now these are events that were going to take place nearly 200 years after Daniel's time.

But the angel is telling Daniel it's going to be a time a great king is going to rise and when he gets puffed up the kingdom will be divided. It'll fall. He will die but his sons will not take over the kingdom.

That's exactly what happened. Alexander's sons did not rule the kingdom. They were killed and his kingdom was divided. History tells us between four of his generals exactly like it says here it'll be divided into four parts.

And then it says in verse 5 onwards right up to almost the end of the chapter is a description of two of those kingdoms that arose out of this fourfold division of Alexander's Empire. Alexander's Empire was divided into four.

I mentioned that in an earlier study one general took Greece another took Syria third one took Turkey and a fourth one took Greece and the two most powerful of the lot were Syria and Egypt. Now you know if you know your geography of the Middle East that Syria is north of Israel and Egypt is south of Israel.

And here in Daniel chapter 11 almost the entire chapter is devoted to the wars that took place between Syria and Egypt and the significance of it lay in the fact that they were always going across the land of Israel in order to fight with one another.

And that's why the history of these two kingdoms which came into the hands of two of Alexander's generals is described in this chapter. And when it says here the king of the south in verse 5 that is south of Jerusalem there's a verse in the Old Testament where I think it's an Ezekiel where Jerusalem is called the center of the earth and everything is in relation to Jerusalem.

The king of the south is south of Jerusalem that is Egypt. And the king of the north spoken of in verse 6 is north of Jerusalem that is Syria. Now these things have some interest for us because we find that Syria and Egypt have been enemies of Israel even today.

And this is something that has begun long ages ago and so I want to read now from the Good News Bible this section it's very much more plain and simple so that we can understand it. And as we read along I'll explain how this was fulfilled in history literally verse 5 then the king of Egypt will be strong and one of his generals however will be even stronger and rule a greater kingdom.

This is actually what happened. The king of Egypt was a man called Ptolemy P-T-O-L-E-M-Y and one of his generals moved out and began to rule in Syria and became what is called the king of the north or the king of Syria.

So that's the introduction that we read there and in this chapter we read of 22 wars that took place in history and God has given us a description of them. And later on now as we look back Daniel didn't understand it all.

But now as you look back and compare it with history we find an exact fulfillment of those 22 wars in the history of the Middle East at that particular time. So we see that the Middle East has been a area of war right from that time.

All this took place two three hundred years before Christ came to earth even right up to Christ's time. And now we see the same thing happening now that the Middle East just like the years before Jesus came the Middle East was a scene of great battle in the same way now the years before Jesus second coming again the Middle East is a scene of great battle and Syria and Egypt were significant countries in relation to Israel before Jesus first coming.

And we find that Syria and Egypt are significant countries in relation to Israel in before the second coming of Christ. And this is why this chapter has some significance for us because it relates the history of the wars between Syria and Egypt and that were mostly waged in the land of Palestine.

Prophecy’s Double Fulfillment

And I want to say one more thing about prophecy that very often in all in the Old Testament prophecy has a dual fulfillment that means very often something that is said has got a double meaning more than one meaning.

I'll give you one example of that if you turn to the Matthew chapter 2 and verse 15 where it says about Jesus being taken into Egypt that what was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet and that was the Prophet Hosea and this is a quotation from Hosea chapter 11 verse 1 might be fulfilled saying out of Egypt did I call my son.

But when Hosea wrote it in Hosea chapter 11 verse 1 he was not referring to Jesus he was referring to Israel God's Son being brought out of Egypt. But here we find a double fulfillment out of Egypt I have called my son refers to Israel coming out of Egypt.

It also refers to Jesus being brought back from Egypt after Joseph and Mary took him there when Herod was killing seeking his life. So that's just one example of the double fulfillment of prophecy in the same way we find here in Daniel chapter 11 there are certain things which are said which had one fulfillment prior to the first coming of Christ and it has a second fulfillment before the second coming of Christ.

This is why this has reference to the last days in which we live. So what has already been fulfilled we can see very easily we only got to compare it with history. But what is going to be fulfilled we shall see God willing in our lifetime.

So this is why it's exciting. And so verse 6 after a number of years the king of Egypt that is Ptolemy will make an alliance with the king of Syria. Now the kings of Egypt were all called Ptolemy and the kings of Syria were called Antiochus first second third etc.

This is how the city of Antioch in Syria got its name from one of the generals of Alexander the Great who ruled Syria in the line of Antiochus. And after a number of years the king of Egypt will make an alliance with the king of Syria and give him his daughter in marriage.

And this literally happened that Ptolemy king of Egypt gave his daughter in marriage to the king of Syria. But history tells us that she was murdered by the king of Syria's first wife. And that's what it says here.

The alliance will not last. She her husband that is the king and her child and the servants who were with her will all be killed. And the king of Syria's first wife put her own son up on the throne and soon afterwards one of her relatives that is this Egyptian princess who married the king of Syria her brother became king in Egypt and he will attack the army of the king of Syria to take revenge for the murder of his sister.

Now this is exactly fulfilled in history. It's amazing the detail that Gabriel gave to Daniel and he will attack the army of the king of Syria enter their fortress and defeat them. He will carry back to Egypt the images of their gods and the articles of gold and silver dedicated to those gods after several years of peace.

Verse 9 the king of Syria will invade Egypt but he will be forced to retreat and that too was exactly fulfilled. This is what prophecy really is history written in advance. And I think there's perhaps no passage of scripture in the entire Bible like Daniel chapter 11 which gives such exact details of certain wars down to small details like so-and-so's daughter being given in marriage to the other king and then being murdered.

And things like this which are exactly fulfilled in history. It's just one of those chapters God's put down in scripture to teach us is foreknowledge and that is the benefit for us. And going through this chapter the son for the king of Syria will then prepare for war and gather a large army and one of them who was known as Antiochus the Great will sweep on like a flood and attack an enemy fortress.

And in his anger the king of Egypt will go to war against the king of Syria and capture his huge army. He will be proud of his victory verse 12 and of the many soldiers he has killed but he will not continue to be victorious.

And then verse 13 the king of Syria will then go back and gather a larger army than he had before. You see when we read this we would think that this is a description of events that have already taken place when you go down to such detail.

But it is history written beforehand. The king of Syria will do this and when the proper time comes he will return with a large well-equipped army. And then many people will rebel against the king of Egypt and some violent men from your nation Daniel that is the Jews will rebel because of a vision they have seen but they will be defeated.

And so verse 15 so the king of Syria will lay siege to a fortified city and capture it and the soldiers of Egypt will not continue to fight. Even the best of them will not have enough strength now. These are events that took place over a period of hundreds of years sorry many tens of years.

It started off around 330 when Alexander the Great conquered that area and the history of that period goes on right up to about 165 years before Christ. So the description in Daniel chapter 11 is a period of about 165 years of history in which all these details are given.

And further we read in verse 16 the Syrian invader will do with them as he pleases without opposition. He will stand in the promised land and have it completely in his power. It's because it's affecting the nation of Israel that this history is recorded.

You see history interests us only in the way it affects the people of God. And that's why this chapter was written down for Daniel's instruction. Verse 17 the king of Syria will plan an expedition using his whole army and then he does the reverse of what the king of Egypt did in a previous generation in order to destroy his enemy's kingdom.

He does the same thing he will make an alliance with the king of Egypt. And this time it's the other way around. He gives his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to Ptolemy in Egypt hoping that his daughter will help him to defeat the enemy.

But his plan will not succeed. It says she will not take a for her father or be on his side. She took the stand of her husband and her father. Antiochus the Great was disappointed. Now this is again literally it was like that in history.

History gives us the names of these people. And then verse 18 after that he will attack the nations by the sea and conquer many of them. But a foreign leader will defeat him and put an end to his arrogance.

Indeed he will turn the arrogance of Syria's king back on him. And then verse 19 that's when the king of Syria was defeated by the Romans. And that's the period in the history of the world when the Roman Empire was just beginning to come up.

It wasn't a world power then it was beginning to come up. Then the king will return to the fortresses of his own land but he will be defeated and that will be the end of him. And that is the time when we read that this man Antiochus the third or Antiochus the Great was killed and he will be followed by another king that was his own son who will send an officer to oppress the people with taxes in order to increase the wealth of his kingdom.

And this too was literally fulfilled in history. But then after some time in a short time that king will be killed but not publicly and not in battle. History tells us that Antiochus the Great's son was poisoned by his own servants and there was a fulfillment of what God had written there.

He was not killed in battle he was poisoned by his own servants. Then we read in verse 21 that after this son had died poisoned by his servants strictly speaking his son should have come to the throne of the king of the kingdom of Syria but he did not.

Antiochus Epiphanes as a Type of the Antichrist

And verse 21 onwards describes a king I'll just tell you his name in the moment who rules Syria who is one of the clearest types of the Antichrist that is ever recorded in the scriptures. That's why it's significant from verse 21 onwards.

Then the angel went on to explain the next king of Syria will be an evil man who has no right to be the king because he was not the son of the previous king he was the brother of the previous king. But he will come unexpectedly because the king's son was too small and seize power by trickery.

And that's exactly what happened. And he was known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes. And the significance for us of this man is that in the scriptures he is portrayed as a type of the Antichrist and he will come unexpectedly and seize power by trickery and anyone who opposes him verse 22 this happened about 175 years before Christ including and when it says they're the prince of the covenant the old covenant representative in Israel at that time was the high priest and that's referring to the high priest.

And that's also true that there was a high priest in Israel at that time called Onias. We read of it in a book called the book of Maccabees in the apocryphal books and there we read about Antiochus Epiphanes and that in those books of Macca the books of Maccabees and there we read that the high priest himself was swept away and wiped out as it says here in verse 22.

And this Antiochus Epiphanes verse 23 will by making treaties he will deceive other nations. Now as you read along remember this is a picture of the Antichrist that's going to come and that's why a great deal of detail is given us about this particular King almost to the end of the chapter.

All the other Kings 175 years almost was compressed into a very short passage of scripture verse 5 to 20. But when it comes to this particular King great detail is given and the significance for us is that here is someone who is portrays for us the way the Antichrist is going to rise up in the last days he will grow stronger and stronger verse 23 even though he rules only a small nation to begin with he will invade a wealthy province without warning and will do things that none of his ancestors ever did.

He will divide among his followers the goods and property he has captured in war and thus make friends with his followers and increase his popularity. And we read further he will make plans to attack fortresses but his time will soon run out.

Then verse 25 still talking about Antiochus Epiphanes he will boldly raise a large army to attack the king of Egypt who will prepare to fight back with a huge and powerful army. But the king of Egypt will be deceived by some of his own friends and will not be successful.

His closest advisors will ruin him and that's the king of Egypt will be defeated and many of the Egyptian soldiers will be killed and his army will be wiped out. This literally happened when Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Egypt.

Then here it speaks about the conference table which is very a familiar thing in these days. They have this conference table. The two kings will sit down at the same table but their motives will be evil and they will tell lies to each other an exact description of all the conferences that go on for peace between the various nations today.

And that's exactly it happened before it happened a hundred and sixty-five years before Christ. And it's going to happen now in these days the conference table they will tell lies to each other and deceive each other.

They will not get what they want because the time for it has not yet come. Then the king of Syria verse 28 will return home with all the loot he has captured determined to destroy the religion of God's people.

You see from Egypt he passes through Israel and here is where he becomes a type of the Antichrist in Israel. He will do as he pleases and then return to his own land. Later on he will invade Egypt again but this time things will turn out differently because verse 30 the Romans will come in ships and oppose him the ships of Chittim or Cyprus and he will be frightened.

The Roman power was building up at this time particularly their fleet. And then he will turn back in anger and try to destroy the religion of God's people. Here is where as I said he becomes a picture of the Antichrist.

And because the Roman fleet chased Antiochus Epiphanes out of Egypt he came back to Syria and passed through Jerusalem. And now see what he did in Jerusalem. And we will see that this is exactly what the Antichrist is going to do in Jerusalem in a future day the double fulfillment of prophecy.

And we read here he will follow the advice of those Jews who have abandoned their covenant with God. There are going to be certain Jews who abandoned their covenant with God and turn and take the side of the Antichrist.

And that happened before in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and some of his soldiers will desecrate the temple in Jerusalem. And the way they did that was they took a pig. They knew the Jews don't eat pigs.

They don't eat pork and they took a pig and sacrificed it on the altar in the temple. Antiochus Epiphanes did that and he took a statue of Jupiter and placed it in the most holy place of the temple. That's a picture of how the Antichrist one day will set up his own image in the temple in Jerusalem in a future day the dual fulfillment of prophecy.

And then they will set up the abomination of desolation. This is the abomination of desolation which Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 prefigured in the statue of Jupiter being put up by Antiochus Epiphanes 165 years before Christ.

Now Jesus said that we need to understand about this abomination of desolation. That's why we need to consider this passage of scripture carefully. And then we read in verse 32. By deceit by deception.

Deception is going to be one of the greatest means by which the Antichrist is going to fulfill his purpose. He will win the support of those who have forsaken the covenant of their God. But those who know their God will display strength and take action.

And there we see the contrast in verse 32. It's one of the most important verses in the chapter between the compromisers and the wholehearted. It says that when Antiochus Epiphanes comes into Jerusalem there will be certain Jews who will compromise and take his side forsake the covenant.

And there will be others. And we read about them in the book books of Maccabees. In the apocryphal books Maccabees were a group of five brothers who was the son of one of the sons of one of the priests.

And they were the ones who stood for the truth against Antiochus Epiphanes. They endured tremendous persecution in those days. The way this king of Syria used to taunt the Jews was by forcing them to eat pork.

And there are amazing stories of martyrdom where the Jews would refuse to eat pork and they would be tortured for it and slain. And they would stand true to their faith for a small thing like that an example for those who are going to take a stand for the Lord for small things in the last days.

It's not in the big things Antiochus Epiphanes didn't tell the Jews to kill or to commit adultery. A small thing he said take a little bit of pork to prove that you deny the Word of God. And that teaches us that in the last days it's going to be through small compromises a small little thing by which we deny and forsake the covenant.

So when it speaks here in verse 32 about those who forsake the covenant it was not by disobeying one of the great ten commandments but by the small things. And this is why we emphasize in these days it's an obedience to the small things that the wholehearted are distinguished.

It was exactly like that at that time when Antiochus Epiphanes tested the Jews. And there were these leaders called the Maccabean brothers who stood up for God. The people who knew their God verse 32 will display strength and take action.

They fought physically because their kingdom was earthly. But we who stand for spiritual truth fight a spiritual battle. But the example of the Maccabean brothers is a tremendous example. And I just want to emphasize that that verse.

Verse 32 is a very important verse for those who are wholehearted in the last days the secret is to know God. To know God personally not know the Bible but to know God. The people who know their God will be strong.

There is no other way to be strong. Verse 33. And those who have insight those who have revelation among the people the wise leaders of the people. It's referring in its primary fulfillment to the Maccabean brothers and their followers.

It's referring in a secondary fulfillment to the overcomers in the last days the wise leaders who have revelation will share their wisdom with many others. This is an important ministry in the last days that if God gives us wisdom we are to share that wisdom with many others.

Yet they will fall by the sword. That means they will be persecuted. And some of them will be killed in battle some burnt to death some will be robbed and made prisoners. And while this killing is going on verse 34 God's people will receive a little help.

God ensures that they are that our pressures never become too great for us to bear. And while the killing is going on God's people will receive a little help even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons in hypocrisy and the flatteries it says in the King James Version.

In other words as we take a stand for the Lord is overcomers. In the last days we are going to find certain people joining us or seeking to join us who are not sincere who are not wholehearted in their private life.

God's Word warns us. And any person who wants to stand for God must recognize that fact that in the midst of the wholehearted there will be people coming in with speaking flattering words. Beware of flattery in the last days coming in hypocrisy insincere seeking to come in the midst of God's people with as it says here selfish reasons.

That's why we need to be shrewd as serpents and not swallow anything that anyone comes and tells us and believe that he's wholehearted just because he comes to the meetings or just because he appears to be interested in hearing the Word of God.

God's Word warns us about everything that's going to come. But some of those wise leaders those who have revelation will be killed. They will fall by the sword. They will suffer. But as a result of this the people will be purified.

The slaying and persecution will only purify the church until the end time. And here is an amazing phrase this will continue until the end comes the time that God has set God has set an exact time for these things and then the end will come.

The Antichrist, God’s Decree, and the Final Conflict

Now we move to verse 36. And here is a much clearer description of the Antichrist himself also referring to the king of Syria. The king will do as he pleases. This is also a picture of the Antichrist and he will magnify himself above every God.

As we read in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 he will exalt himself above every God and he will speak monstrous things against the God of God. He will prosper. He'll be able to do this until the time when God punishes him.

And for that which is decreed will be done. And the Good News Bible paraphrases that last phrase of verse 36 like this. Listen to it. God will do exactly what he has planned. And that's one of the great messages that comes through to us in the book of Daniel.

God will do exactly what he has planned. And the fact that all the previous things have already been fulfilled in history is written for our encouragement that when the Antichrist rises God is going to do exactly what he has planned.

It's not going to go out of control. And we read further. The king will ignore the God of his ancestors served. And he will also ignore the God that women love. We read of that in Ezekiel and chapter 8 verse 14 women had a God called Tammuz whom they worshipped the God of fertility.

He will ignore that. He will be anti God. He will be anti religion. He will be anti children. He'll be a great promoter of abortion. We can see the beginnings of it already. And because he will think he will ignore every God because he will think he is greater than any of them.

Verse 37. And then verse 38 it says instead of all this he's going to be anti God anti religion anti children. We see some of that in communism already. If you read of the history of communist countries you see they are anti all these things.

And instead of all this he will honor the God of war. His God will be the God of war the God of fortresses. And the God of wealth to whom he offered gold silver jewels and other gifts to a God his ancestors never worshipped.

It says here the worship of power and wealth. And 29 to defend his fortresses he will use people who worship a foreign God. He will use the help of a foreign God literally means he will be helped by evil spirits.

Those are the foreign gods. Behind every demon there is an evil spirit. Evil spirits are the ones who are going to help the forces of the Antichrist in the last days. He will give great honor to those who accept him as their ruler.

Those who bow down and take his image and put them into high offices and give them land as a reward first 39. He will give great honor and land and property to those who will submit to his authority. Now this literally happened to during the days of Antiochus Epiphanes.

And it's going to happen again in the days of the Antichrist. And finally it tells it says as I said in verse 36 until the time comes and history tells us that Antiochus Epiphanes died of a terrible disease.

And while he was dying of that disease he said this is because I desecrated the temple in Jerusalem that God has punished me. And that's how he died. The Antichrist is also going to meet a similar fate verse 39 he will use the help of evil spirits and put in power those who submit to him.

Now verse 40 when the king of Syria's final hour has almost come that's almost the end of the age. In as far as we're concerned it's the final battle. When his hour is almost come we read the king of Egypt will attack him and the king of Syria will fight back with all his power using chariots forces and many ships.

That was how it was in those days. In the last days it'll be with missiles and aircraft and various other things. He will invade many countries. And this is the time when the Antichrist is going to rule that whole section of the world like the waters of a flood.

He will even invade the promised land. That is the time when he's going to break the covenant with the Jews and kill tens of thousands. But the countries of Edom Moab and what is left of Emon will escape which is today known as Jordan.

I don't know the significance of that but it seems to say here that the country of Jordan is going to escape for some reason or the other. But we can be pretty sure that we shall see the fulfillment of that.

When he invades all those countries Egypt will not be spared. Egypt will be conquered. He'll take away Egypt's hidden treasures. He will conquer Libya and Sudan who will be behind him. Libya and Ethiopia it says here in verse 43 will follow at his heels.

But at that time rumors from the east verse 44 and from the north will frighten him. And that speaks of the forces that come in across the Euphrates that we considered when we studied Revelation 16 perhaps Chinese forces from the east.

And he will fight furiously killing many people verse 45 he will set up his royal tents that is his palace between the seas that means between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea that is in Jerusalem and the holy mountain on which the temple stands.

But finally he will come to his end and there will be nobody to help him. And that is a description of how it was with the king of Syria. And that long section beginning from verse 21 right on till the end of the chapter is a pretty good description.

God has given us of how the Antichrist is going to rise up to power. And that is why this portion of scripture has significance for us. And if we keep this in mind we will see the developments in the world in light of what we saw in this chapter.

Daniel 12: Michael, Tribulation, and Resurrection

Now we come to chapter 12 at that time that is at that particular time in the period of history when the Antichrist has broken the covenant with the Jews it says Michael the great prince who stands God over the sons of your people will arise.

And we considered that when we studied Revelation chapter 12 oh there was war in heaven and Michael the Archangels fought with the devil and his angels and the devil and his angels were cast out to the earth from the second heavens from the heavenlies they were cast out that's prophesied in Daniel 2.

This warfare among evil spirits which we saw in Daniel 10 we see in Revelation 12. And finally Satan is cast down and that's the chapter in Revelation 12 where we have this wonderful verse about the overcomers Revelation 12 11.

But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death that is the time spoken of here. And there will be a time of distress that is the great tribulation such has never occurred since there was a nation until that time that is for a period of three and a half years.