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More Daniel commentaries
Daniel 8:1-14
Daniel’s Vision of a Ram And a Goat
Daniel 8:15-27
Gabriel Interprets The Vision
Daniel 9:1-10
Daniel Prays For The People
Daniel 9:11-19
Daniel Cries Out to God For Mercy
Daniel 9:20-27
The Seventy Weeks Prophecy
Daniel 10:1-9
Daniel’s Terrifying Vision of a Man
Daniel 10:10-21
Prophecies Concerning Persia And Greece
Daniel 11:1-20
The Kings And Their Successors
Daniel 11:21-39
The Evil King From The North
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The Kings And Their Successors
Daniel 11:1–20
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)
A story is told of a small group study that was done each week a church. Each week it would be held in a different member’s home and the host would provide snacks and the opening prayer. One young lady always provided the best food, had the cleanest home, etc. But she could … More
This chapter contains detailed prophecy of events that were to take place in Israel for the next three hundred years. Daniel starts out by saying, you also need to know that I protected and helped Darius the Medo in his first year as king (v. 1). Three kings were yet to reign under Persian rule (v. 2). These three proved to be Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis and Darius Hystaspes. Following this was to be a ruler “far richer than them all” who would invade Greece. This was fulfilled in Xerxes. The messenger then told of a mighty king who would conquer Persia (Alexander the Great) who at the height of his power would see his kingdom broken and “divided toward the four winds of heaven and not to his heirs” (v. 3-4). His kingdom was divided between his four leading generals (Seleusuc, Ptolemy, Lysimacus and Cassander). This eventually became two kingdoms, Egypt in the south and Syria in the north.
In this next section we find much detail of the continuous conflict between the north and the south during which time the land of Israel was invaded first by one power and then by another (vv. 5-20). This covered a period of about 200 years. Keep in mind that this covers a long period of time so “the king of the South” and the “king of the North” throughout this passage are not the same individuals. It is not likely that any of the rulers mentioned here had any idea that through them the prophesies of God were being fulfilled in His Sovereignty.
Application
We can see here as elsewhere in Scripture how God raises up certain people to perform certain purposes at certain times in history, according to His Sovereign will. I want to be available to do whatever He wants to do with my life as long as I have the strength and mind to do things for Him.
Daniel 11:1-20 (English Standard Version)
"And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. "And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these. "Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. After some years they shall make an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the strength of her arm, and he and his arm shall not endure, but she shall be given up, and her attendants, he who fathered her, and he who supported her in those times. "And from a branch from her roots one shall arise in his place. He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north, and he shall deal with them and shall prevail. He shall also carry off to Egypt their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold, and for some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north. Then the latter shall come into the realm of the king of the south but shall return to his own land. "His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall keep coming and overflow and pass through, and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. Then the king of the south, moved with rage, shall come out and fight against the king of the north. And he shall raise a great multitude, but it shall be given into his hand. And when the multitude is taken away, his heart shall be exalted, and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north shall again raise a multitude, greater than the first. And after some years he shall come on with a great army and abundant supplies. "In those times many shall rise against the king of the south, and the violent among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they shall fail. Then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well-fortified city. And the forces of the south shall not stand, or even his best troops, for there shall be no strength to stand. But he who comes against him shall do as he wills, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, with destruction in his hand. He shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and he shall bring terms of an agreement and perform them. He shall give him the daughter of women to destroy the kingdom, but it shall not stand or be to his advantage. Afterward he shall turn his face to the coastlands and shall capture many of them, but a commander shall put an end to his insolence. Indeed, he shall turn his insolence back upon him. Then he shall turn his face back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and shall not be found. "Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an exactor of tribute for the glory of the kingdom. But within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle."
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