Intro:
Yesterday morning I dropped my daughter off at School here at 7am
and Headed over to Brengle
for Morning Devos –
Beautiful morning in the
park – Sunny –clear
B) One problem: Construction
workers – Moonlight
1) Noisy – crane going – But
if you listened close enough you could hear the birds singing
C) I sat there thinking –
Life is a lot like that
1) Surrounded by the beauty
of God’s creation – See it in what he has made – see it in People
D) But we are also surrounded
by a lot that is ugly – result of sin – the world – easy to get distracted
E) But the Lord says be
still and Know that I am God
1) When we stop – quiet –
hear his voice through the noise.
Tonight
we come to a passage that for many might seem like noise – ancient History
A) If you liked History in
School you might find this interesting – didn’t like it first glance BORING
B) But this is what we must
see – This is Prophecy – Prophecy is History in Advance
“I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, “My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure.”
This is what we
need to hear tonight! Be thinking about as we go thru this section of scripture
A) God is not bound by time{
He sees History in Advance – He knows the end from the beginning
B) The 11th
Chapter of Daniel is a classic example of that truth.
C) This Chapter is a proof
text of the awesome authority of God’s word.
1) Accurate –It is
trustworthy in all areas
D) Psalm 138:2 “I have magnified my word above my name.”
1) The trustworthiness of God’s word is a part
of who He is – His name – character rep ride on it
E) God knows your future –
You can trust Him!
1) Never given up on
F) Recall
Vision came Daniel praying fasting –because
1) God was going to shake
the tree – shake up wake up - Mode of
opp with
So Keep
that in mind as we work our way thru this tonight: Hearts amazed
A) Daniel is being told
events that will happen 375 yrs before they take place in V.1-35
B) From Cyrus to Antiochus Epiphanes
C) Then in V. 35-45 LATTER DAYS – ANTICHRIST
2 And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings
will arise in
Cyrus was the king at that
time in
A) They
were going to be three other kings that will follow him, then a fourth king
will arise who will be very rich and he will stir up the people against
B) Historically
that's exactly what happened: Cyrus was followed by his son named Cambyses, the
son of Cyrus,
C) The
second was Smerdis a man named pseudo-Smerdis who looked so much like Cambyses
that he was able to usurp the throne by deception.
D)The
third king was Darius HystApEs, who launched a minor unsuccessful attack on
E) The 4th was King
Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes I. He is the Persian king spoken of in the book
of Esther. He had fabulous wealth and commanded one of
the largest military forces ever assembled in the ancient world.
A) His army numbered almost
2 million – plus he had a formative Navy as well.
B) With
his huge army and navy he attacked
C) Alexander the Great is
the next King that Daniel is told about – came into power at 20yrs of age
3 Then a mighty king
shall arise, who shall rule with great
dominion, and do according to his will. 4 And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not
among his posterity nor according to
his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for
others besides these.
He was a man of "great
dominion" (v. 3)
He was
an absolute monarch with a powerful personality, great leadership ability, and
a powerful army.
With
those assets he was able to "do
according to his will" (v. 3).
He conquered the western
world from
Alexander
the Great of
Israel was part of the
Persian Empire at the time of Alexander's conquest, so in occupying the empire
Alexander took possession of
His time in power was short
lived: When
he was thirty-two years of age, he was coming home from a party totally drunk and it was raining and he was sopping wet, but he
was so drunk he went to bed without taking off his wet clothes and as a result he got pneumonia and died at the age of
thirty-two.
No sooner did he "stand
up" (v. 4) in the power of his empire than he was struck down.
His
empire shattered and "divided toward the four
winds of heaven" (v. 4) --amongst
his four generals.
And
just As
Alexander's
heirs were a mentally retarded half-brother, an illegitimate child, and a baby
born after Alexander's death. They were all murdered.
After
a struggle for power His kingdom was Divided between his four Generals
General
Cassander took
General
Lysimachus took
General
Seleucus took
But The dominion of each was
less than that of Alexander--just as Daniel prophesied.
Now the Angel is only going
to focus on the two latter dynasties – the Seleucus to the north of
Ptolomy
to the south of
Reason:
Is their proximity to
Seleucus
and Ptolomy produced the dynasties that
The
two dynasties were often at war, and since
In verses 5-20 we have recorded two centuries of
conflict in which
5 "Also the king of the South
shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power
over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.
The
king of the south was Ptolemy
Initially,
the Ptolemaic dynasty was more powerful than the Seleucid, but as time went on
the northern dynasty increased in power.
The two kingdoms determined
to resolve increasing tension between them by an alliance.
6 And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter
of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an
agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he
nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who
brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in
those times.
Here
is what happened: This is like a Soap opera:
A )Berenice,
the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the king of the south) , married Antiochus
II Theos (the grandson of Seleucus, the king of the north).
That
was a common method of cementing together alliances in the ancient world.
Unfortunately
Antiochus was already married, so he divorced his wife and went ahead with
marriage to Berenice in about 250 B.C.
But The marriage did not produce any lasting peace:
after the death of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Antiochus II Theos divorced
Berenice and took back his former wife, Laodice. But Hell has no fury like a woman scorned: Laodice took revenge by murdering Berenice,
her son, and her attendants.
But
She also murdered Antiochus (thus completely fulfilling verse 6).
Those
murders brought Laodice's son, Seleucus II Callinicus, to the throne in 246 B.
C.
But
Berenice did not remain unavenged. The angel told Daniel, V7 But from a branch of her
roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the
fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail
Sure enough Bernice's brother Ptolemy III, the king of
And
v.8 tells us that 8 And he shall also carry their
gods captive to
History
records that Ptolemy III returned to
All
written hundreds of yrs before these events took place.
Ptolemy
III had defeated Callinicus, the northern king, so he now controlled
9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of
the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. 10 However his sons
shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall
certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his
fortress and stir up strife.
Callinicus
two sons (v. 10). They raised "a multitude of great forces" to
avenge their father's defeat--but one (Seleucus III Soter) died.
The
remaining son (Antiochus III the Great) became king of the north and
continued the campaign against the south.
He swept through
"And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go
out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great
multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. 12 When he has taken away the multitude, his
heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will
not prevail.
So
the king of the south, Ptolemy III Philadelphius, raised an army of 73,000 men,
5,000 cavalry and 73 elephants and he came with this huge army against the king
of the north and defeated Antiochus the Great.
He
killed tens of thousands of the troops of Antiochus as it speaks here
Ptolemy III was successful and the multitude
from the north was "given into his hand" (v. 11).
History
records that Antiochus lost 10,000 infantry, 300 cavalry, and five elephants.
But
Ptolemy III was not strengthened by his victory--in the long run he only made
Antiochus angry.
A) Antiochus vowed to take revenge with a
greater army.
B) Again the Angel lays it out for Daniel
13 For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude
greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with
a great army and much equipment. 14 "Now in those times many shall rise up
against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt
themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. 15 So the king of
the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and
the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall
have no strength to resist.
Antiochus the Great took
about fourteen years and raised a lot of money and developed a huge army, even
a greater army than Ptolemy III had.
And
when Ptolemy III died, the kingdom was
turned over to his five year old son, Ptolemy IV Epiphanes.
A) So Antiochus the Great
took advantage of the fact that the son was reigning, and he came with this
army and he again fought against
B) His army was consisted of
Violent men of Daniel’s pp or Jews – these were apostates – who thought they
would fair well by joining with Antiochus
C) Although he did pay them
well for their effort – eventually they would suffer at his hand
After
his victory over
16 But he who
comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand
against him. He shall stand in the
Antiochus
the Great's entry into "the glorious land"--the
Antiochus treated the Jewish
mercenaries who joined him with favor and paid them well.
But he took long lasting
control over
V.17
tells us that Antiochus decided to consolidate and strengthen his power by an
alliance with
That
woman was his daughter, Antiochus intended that she act as a spy – but v.17
tells us that she loved her husband more than her father so she didn’t stand
with her father or help her father.
REIGN OF
REBELLION: This is what happens when pp are not honoring God –
A) Use their kids as pawns –
play with pp’s lives
B) Trying to build their own
Kingdom
C) Parent doing that you
need to repent!
1) God back on the throne in
that marriage
Once Antiochus achieved
control of
18 After this he
shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall
bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he
shall turn back on him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of
his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. 20 "There shall arise in his place one
who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be
destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.
But
The problem with this move was the coastal areas along the Mediterranean islands and Greece was an area
in which Rome had an interest, and Antiochus was defeated in battle by a Roman army
in 191 B. C.
As a
result Antiochus was forced to return to "the fortress of his own
land" (v. 19).
A) There
he was murdered when he tried to plunder a temple dedicated to Jupiter.
B) Antiochus
the Great was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopater, who became a
"raiser of taxes" (v. 20).
C) That's
because he was forced to pay
Seleucus
IV short reign was ended when he was "destroyed, neither in anger, nor in
battle" (v. 20) : he was assassinated by his prime minister in 176 B. C.
Once again The details of
Daniel's prophecy were fulfilled precisely!
So, the Lord spoke with very
exacting preciseness the history of the two of the family that will rule
following Alexander the Great.
Now
as we come to verse 21, we come to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. Described
in v.21 as a vile man
A) We talked about him at
length in Ch.8 - He is a foreshadow of
the Anti Christ – very similar
B) But there is a foreshadow
Rd v. 21
21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will
not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the
kingdom by intrigue.
22 With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before
him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23 And after the league is made with him he shall act
deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of
people. 24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the
province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers:
he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall
devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
This
guy was shrewd. He was
a master deceiver.
Antiochus
devastated the Egyptians: He accomplished that by initially adopting a policy
of friendship with
In
his own territories he entered "upon the richest places" (v. 24)
taking from the rich and then distributing gifts to the poor--he was a
self-styled Robin Hood.
That gained him popular
support.
He
also did everything possible to undermine strong communities in his kingdom so
there would be no challenge to his power.
He
quickly put down any move against him.
V.25-27
Describe his battle with the Egyptians
25 "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the
king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred
up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him.
26 Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his
army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 Both these kings'
hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but
it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
In 170 B. C. Antiochus's
army was victorious over Ptolemy's larger Egyptian army
.
Antiochus was victorious in part because Ptolemy's counselors plotted against
him (vv. 25-26).
The
angel told Daniel that because of the betrayal, "His army shall overflow,
and many shall fall down slain" (v. 26).
Following
Their
promises to each other were not intended to be fulfilled—{NOTHING HAS CHANGED}
The goals of the two kings
remained unfulfilled because they didn't coincide with the "end" God
had in mind.
That end would come in God's "appointed time" in the future.
Antiochus
failed to obtain complete control of
Instead
he turned his army north and marched through
Daniel
was told that Antiochus's heart "shall be against the holy covenant; and
he shall do damage exploits" (v.
28). Broke Daniel’s heart
Dangle
over hell
He
pillaged the land and sacked
He
then continued north "to his own land"
29 "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the
south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. 30 For ships from
Ships of
31 And forces shall be mustered by him,
and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the
daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. 32 Those who
do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery
In
Jerusalem Antiochus placed guards around the
He
required idolatrous worship and held Greek athletic contests (in which the
athletes competed while naked) in full view of the
Greek
culture was imposed, a statue of the Greek god Zeus erected in the
All
those abominations were intended to desecrate the Jewish Temple.
Not
the abomination of desolation Jesus spoke of
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come
unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or
that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God.
Antiochus
never did that!
So
Daniel is told that some Jews will follow him but
V32b; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and
carry out great exploits. 33 And those
of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall
fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. 34 Now when they fall, they
shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them,
and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the
appointed time.
In 165BC – Judas
Maccabeus led a revolt in
C) The
temple was cleansed and rededicated. What the holiday Hannukah is about
He
challenged his sons to take up the fight and give their lives for God, for the
right causes.
So
as you read in the book of the Maccabees, , Judas Maccabeus began with a small
group of men, just a few thousand poorly armed men.
They
were just armed with sticks. And they began to go against these larger forces
of the Syrians, those of the king of the north, those Generals of Antiochus
Epiphanes.
And
they began to defeat and to slaughter and to wipe out these forces one after
another. They did tremendous exploits.
These
men challenged to just trust God, to give their lives for God and to fight against
this paganism, and God strengthened them and was before them.
And
they that understand among the people shall instruct many:
They
were trying to bring to pass really a spiritual revival. And they cleansed the
temple. And, they finally came to
They
reinstituted the temple worship. And there is where the story comes in, and as
they set up the temple again and purified it and went through the cleansing
process, as they went to relight the Menorah, the seven branch candlestick,
there was oil enough only for one day but they lit it, but it took seven days
to go through the process of preparing the oil.
And
through this whole seven day period that it took to prepare the oil the oil
continued to burn in the lampstand until they had the new oil prepared to pour
into it. And thus, they had developed a Feast of Lights which was also called
the Feast of Dedication, and it is today called Hanukkah. And the Hanukkah
Menorah has eight candlesticks representing the eight days. And most of the
Jewish candleholders that you see are the eight of the Hanukkah rather then the
seven of the temple.
So,
Hanukkah was this celebration of the Feast of Lights where God kept the lights
burning while they were putting together this new oil for the candlestick.
Jesus
was in
So
that is why when we are celebrating Christmas, the Jews are celebrating their
Hanukkah.
The People who
Know their God shall do great exploits – The Bible and history