Daniel
Chapter
11
{Chapter
10 Really Continues - the Interpretation
of Human History}
{Note:
The verses in Chapter 11 appear repetitious - but that is only
because history repeats itself. The mistakes of one generation are
repeated in following generations. "The only thing we learn from
history, is that we learn nothing from history."}
1~~
I {Gabriel}
in
the first year of Darius the Mede, {534 BC}
even
I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
{Note:
We saw in Chapter 10 that God sent Daniel a teaching angel -
Gabriel. We got the summary in Chapter 10 and now we have details -
as is the Hebrew style of writing.}
{Verses
2-20: Jewish History After the Babylonian Captivity}
2a~~And
now
{Third year of Cyrus 539 BC - takes us back to Chapter 10:1}
I
will show you the Truth/Doctrine.
{Doctrine of the Nation of Israel, Kingdom of Judah}
2b~~Behold,
there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia
and
the fourth shall be far richer than they all.
{Note:
RBT says the FIRST of these kings is Cambyses, son of Cyrus the
Great. Cyrus died in 531 BC fighting barbarians that he neutralized
for 200 years. Cambyses ruled from 530 BC to 522 BC. SECOND was the
Ahasuerus of Ezra 4:6. That is a title for a man named Gaumâta
who took the name Pseudo- Smerdis and RBT says poisoned Cambyses and
took the identity of Cambyses' brother to take the rule. He became
known as Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:7). He is the ruler who stopped the work
on the temple in Jerusalem. The THIRD king would be Darius the Great
(son of the famous general Hystapes) replaced him and he was a
believer. He protected the Jews and under him, the temple was
completed. Darius commanded a huge empire that included 75 million
people which was huge for the day. The FOURTH then is Xerxes I, the
son of Darius (486 - 465 BC). }
2c~~And
by his {the 4th king's - Xerxes'} strength
{referring to Xerxes' fantastic army and navy}
through
his riches
he
shall stir up all
against
the realm of Greece.
{Note:
Darius prepared for the invasion against Greece. But it was Xerxes
who carried out the invasion. And, Xerxes is the king who would later
get rid of his wife and marry Esther.}
{Verses
3-4: Prophecy of the Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great}
3~~And
a mighty king shall stand up,
that
shall rule with great dominion,
and
do according to his will.
{Note:
Alexander's beginning was greater then his ending. He was an
unbeliever but intuitively followed the laws that God has set up as
His Laws for a Successful Establishment. At the end of his life, he
had bought into the false doctrines of internationalism. He was
trying to create a 'super-race' of half Persian and half Greek - in
essence trying to make himself like God . . . and God had to remove
him from the scene. As he was dieing they asked who should inherit
his kingdom and he answered 'The strongest'. So, the empire ended up
being divided. The 'four winds of heaven' in the next verse are the 4
of his generals who ended up with most of the empire. Two could not
handle the prosperity and two could handle the prosperity and were
'winners'. Well, as far as we know they are unbelievers and are in
Sheol today, but as for 'in time' they were humanly successful.}
4~~
And when he {Alexander} shall stand up,
{meaning he is at his peak - he controlled the civilized world in 12
years time}
his
kingdom shall be broken,
and
shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven
{the 'winds' blow the empire into parts - primarily 4 parts}
and
not to his posterity,
nor
according to his dominion which he ruled . . .
for
his kingdom shall be plucked up,
even
for others
{at least 7 other generals fight for pieces of the kingdom}
beside
those.
{those refers to the 4 winning generals}
{Note:
On Alexander's death, four of his generals fought for rule of his empire
1) General Salucid/Seleucus ruled over a huge area called 'Syria'
(from India to the Middle East) - his family ruled until the
Romans conquered this Salucid dynasty.
2) General Ptolemy picked Egypt and Cyprus. His dynasty lasted
the longest and controlled the finest and consistent wheat
source in the world. Cleopatra was the last of this dynasty
and Rome conquered it also under the Caesar Octavius (aka
Augustus).
3) General Lysimachus who took over Asia Minor - Thrace and
Armenia.
4) General Cassander was the 4th. He controlled Macedonia and
only lasted about 20 years. He founded the city of
Thessalonica and named for his wife, Alexander's step-sister,
Thessaloniki}
{Note:
Alexander had a son who was murdered by one of his generals. Many of
his generals would end up being kings over his former empire. But the
temporary big winners were Lysimachus and Cassander. Then two would
be longer term winners whose families would rule for almost 300 years
- Ptolemy and Salucid.}
{New
Development - Kings of the North and South}
5~~And
the king of the south shall be strong,
{Egypt was to the south of Daniel - Ptolemy ruled it}
and
. . . of his princes . . .
{of Daniel's generals is also Seleucus}
and
he {Seleucus} shall be strong above him {Ptolemy},
{Seleucus (King of the North) is North of Daniel and controls Asia
and the Middle East - he will be even greater than Ptolemy}
and
have dominion;
his
dominion shall be a great dominion.
6a~~And
in the end of years
they
'shall join themselves together'/'make an alliance';
for
the king's daughter of the south
{Bernice - daughter of Ptolemy II}
shall
come to the king of the north
to
make an agreement.
{Bernice married Antiochus II}
{Note:
Later, Ptolemy I's son, Ptolemy II, has a beautiful daughter named
Bernice. She agreed to marry Seleucus' son Antiochus (called
'Antiochus Soter' for savior since he stopped the Gauls from taking
over the empire and stopping them at Galatia) to solidify an alliance
between the empires.}
6b~~But
she {Bernice} shall not retain the 'power of the arm'.
{means her offspring shall not obtain rule - he died}
{Note:
Bernice has a son with Antiochus who would be the natural heir to
both empires. But Antiochus had another wife - Laodicea - who already
had a son. She managed to poison Antiochus, Bernice and her son. Of
course this angered Bernice's brother Ptolemy III and war resulted.
SideNote: One reason these empires are important in the Bible is
because Palestine was the buffer area between these empires where
much military activity was to occur.}
6c~~Neither
shall he {Antiochus II} stand,
{he was poisoned and died}
nor
his arm . . .
{so was his son poisoned and died}
but
she shall be given up . . .
{murder of Bernice}
and
she {Bernice}who brought her,
and
he {Antiochus} who married her,
and
he who strengthened her
{Bernice's father also died the same year}
in
these times.
7~~But
out of a branch of her roots
{referring to Bernice's brother Ptolemy III}
shall
one stand up in his estate {Egypt},
{estate means the Hellenistic Monarchies were all ruled
by Greeks and they never convinced the captive nations
to accept them - so the Ptolemy's were always
considered conquerors instead of rulers to which
the Egyptians should be loyal and patriotic}
which
shall come with an army,
and
shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north,
{Ptolemy III invades the Seleucid Empire (called Syria)
and will capture Antioch - its fortress city}
and
shall deal against them, and shall prevail.
8~~And
shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods,
with
their princes,
and
with their precious vessels of silver and of gold;
and
he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
{Ptolemy III survived Seleucus II by 5 years}
{Note:
Ptolemy III returned to Egypt 2,400 Egyptian idols that had been
taken out of Egypt by Cambyses.}
9~~So
the king of the south
shall
come into his kingdom,
and
shall return into his own land.
{after a great military victory}
{Note:
Means this will be the last time the Ptolemy's successfully attack
Syria/'the Seleucid Empire'. But here Ptolemy III returns to Egypt in triumph.}
10~~But
his sons shall be stirred up,
{referring to the sons of Seleucus II -
Seleucus III and Antiochus III}
and
shall assemble a multitude of great forces.
{a large army}
And
one shall certainly come, and overflow,
and
pass through.
Then
shall he return,
and
be stirred up, even to his fortress.
{Note:
Antiochus will raise a large army and march again against Egypt. The
Ptolemy's had let the military disintegrate. Now we have Antiochus
marching into Palestine on its way to crush Egypt. Ptolemy IV
sacrificed his small standing army in a delaying action in Palestine
while he recruited Egyptians to fight in his army for the first time
and had the old Greek retired military men teach them how to fight.
In one year, he created a great army of 20,000 Egyptians who would
turn the tide against the Seleucids.}
11~~And
the king of the south
{Ptolemy IV (aka Philopater) is now ruling in Egypt}
shall
be moved with anger/choler,
{means to be stirred into action because
of anger}
and
shall come forth and fight with him,
{this prophecy came true in 217 BC at the
battle of Raphia}
even
with the king of the north.
{Antiochus III (Antiochus the Great)}
is now the king of the north}
And
he {Antiochus III}
shall
set forth a great multitude;
but
the multitude shall be given
into
his {Ptolemy IV's} hand.
{Note:
After the delaying action by the Egyptian army, the Seleucid army
wintered. But the Egyptian army trained and trained and trained. So,
when fight season began again, the Seleucid army was larger but the
Egyptian army was now better trained and harder. The Egyptians won.}
12a~~And
when he {Ptolemy IV}
had
subdued the multitude,
his
heart shall be lifted up
{means he became arrogant - mental attitude sins
he did not follow up the victory and establish
his borders in arrogance - and an important
fact is the Seleucids will keep control of Palestine}.
{Note:
Because Ptolemy did not control Palestine, Antiochus Epiphany is
coming to bring great disaster on the Jews - but freedom will result
when the Maccabeans revolt and overthrow Antiochus.}
12b~~And
he {Ptolemy IV}
shall
slaughter 'a large number of people'/'many ten thousands'
{his Egyptians now were trained in warfare and they
revolt against this outsider (Greek) rule}
but
he shall not be strengthened by it.
{in putting down revolts Ptolemy just gets weaker
not stronger}
13~~For
the king of the north {Antiochus the Great}
shall
return {203 BC},
and
shall set forth a multitude greater than the former,
{a larger and well trained army}
and
shall certainly come after certain years
with
a great army and with much riches.
{he raised a larger army and plundered and now
this army was also well paid and prosperous}
14~~And
in those times {203 BC}
there
shall . . . the many stand up
{a large coalition of peoples against Egypt
including Philip V, king of Macedonia}
against
the king of the south
{Ptolemy IV dies in 204 BC - the ruler is now Ptolemy V
or Ptolemy Epiphany (the Magnificent)}
also
the robbers of your people
{the robbers are the Jews who betrayed Egypt
on behalf of Antiochus - they think they can
obtain freedom through treachery - but
end up with Antiochus Epiphany ruling instead}
shall
exalt themselves to establish the vision;
{the 'vision' is a free nation}
but
they shall fall.
{their 'fall' will result in the true way
freedom is obtained - military action -
the Maccabean fight for freedom}.
15~~So
the king of the north {Antiochus III (the Great)}
shall
come,
and
cast up a mount/fortification,
and
take the most fenced cities.
And
the arms of the south shall not withstand,
{the Egyptian army will be defeated this time}
neither
his chosen people,
{referring to the traitorous Jews of the previous verse}
neither
shall there be any strength to withstand.
16~~But
he {Antiochus III (the Great)}
who
comes against him {Ptolemy V}
shall
do according to his own will,
and
none shall stand before him.
{he will destroy 4 Egyptian armies
and do pretty much anything he wants}
And
he shall stand in the 'glorious land',
{Palestine}
which
by his hand shall flourish.
{Antiochus III bribes the Jews into being content
with slavery under him - reducing taxes etc.}
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