We need to interpret a prophecy only based on its context. Every prophecy has a unique context and that should be the primary driver of our interpretation. But one might wonder why New Testament writers sometimes quote some Old Testament prophecies out of context. The answer lies in those particular prophecies holding an inner meaning that justifies a deeper application. We might remember one such example we saw in the Grace issue that dealt with the Jesus–Israel study (See Grace – Blossom28:Apr’10,Para03). Likewise, we studied another such instance in the Grace issue titled ‘The Righteous will live by faith’ (See Grace – Blossom05:Jul’08). So, it is okay to interpret the inner meaning behind an Old Testament prophecy that has been directly/indirectly cited by a New Testament author even if it has been quoted out of context. Why so? It’s acceptable because the writers of the New Testament were divinely appointed and hence wrote with God given authority. And since what they have written itself is sufficient, we do not have the authority to go beyond that. So we should not go about taking Old Testament prophecies out of context and interpreting imaginary inner meanings behind them based on our whims and fancies (1 Cor 4:6). In cases of certain rare Old Testament prophecies, neither have they had any direct fulfilment in the past history nor do they have any possibility of accomplishment in the future. Their context might also indicate a symbolic meaning. Only in such rare scenarios, it would be appropriate to consider a deeper symbolic meaning, but with thoughtful attention. When we studied the Book of Micah in a Scripture Study article, we encountered one such prophecy (See Scripture Study – Blossom17:Jun’11,Para11). But as we noted earlier, all other portions of the Old Testament should be interpreted only based on their context. Having established that, let us now embark to study the 11th and 12th chapters of the Book of Daniel. This prophetic section of the Old Testament is very significant as the prophecies uttered in these two chapters stretch from the historical times of Daniel all the way till the times of the Second Presence of Christ! As a matter of fact, it’s essential for us to have a clear understanding of Daniel 11 & 12 chapters in order to properly explain to others our important beliefs like our belief in the times of the Anti-Christ extending from 539 – 1799 A.D. and our belief that the Second Presence of Christ commenced from 1874 A.D. Many do not know much about the prophecies of Chapter 11 as they do about those of Chapter 12. Daniel’s Chapter 11 stands as a star witness bearing testimony to how God has continually guided the course of the history of the world. Let God grant us wisdom and clarity in this endeavor which will strengthen our faith.
(2) We shall do a verse-by-verse study starting from Chapter 11’s second verse because that is where the prophetic section begins. Verses from Daniel 10:1 till Daniel 11:1 narrate the time and manner in which this prophecy was delivered to Daniel. Since there would not be sufficient space for us to deal with that in detail in this issue, let us just take a brief look at it. The recording of the prophecy begins in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia (Dan 10:1). History tells us that year was 536 B.C. As God had foretold before, Cyrus defeats Babylon in 539 B.C. and frees the Jews from captivity in 538 B.C., the first year of his reign (2 Chron 36:22). But Daniel does not return to Judah right away, because he has to receive some more prophetic revelations. That being the case, a revelation concerning a great war is given to him in 536 B.C. He understands it (Dan 10:1). That prophecy’s intensity is such that it makes Daniel mourn for three weeks (Dan 10:2,3). Then, as Daniel is on the bank of the Tigris river (Note: KJV mentions Tigris by its other name – Hiddekel) with other people, an angel appears in glory. Those with Daniel are overwhelmed by terror as they cannot understand what’s happening. They flee and hide themselves (Dan 10:4-7). Daniel too loses his strength and falls. The angel props him up and asks him to carefully listen to him (Dan 10:8-11). The angel tells Daniel that he has come in response to Daniel’s prayers, overcoming many spiritual obstacles with the help of Michael, in order to explain to Daniel what is to happen to his people in the future (Dan 10:12-14). As Daniel starts feeling very weak again, he is miraculously strengthened and then endeavours to listen to the angel (Dan 10:15-19). The angel says that he is to tell Daniel what is written in the Book of Truth and then return to spiritual warfare. He also says there was a spiritual battle two years before i.e. during 538 B.C., the first year of Darius the Mede (Cyrus was also known as Darius the Mede) (Dan 10:20,21; Dan 11:1). We might remember studying in an earlier issue of Grace that angels do indulge in spiritual battles (See Grace – Blossom40:Apr’11,Para 03). The spiritual battle mentioned by the angel here in this chapter is a very interesting one indeed but there is no space in this article to delve into what it is about. So, let us move onto the prophetic message delivered by the angel starting from the next verse i.e. Daniel 11:2. We are to study historical events, names of many kings, their times of reign and how all these accurately fulfilled biblical prophecies. Some might wonder what really the use of learning about these things is. When we discover how biblical prophecies were precisely accomplished, not only does our faith strengthen, but it also helps us effectively answer those who doubt the Holy Bible. We too grow in biblical knowledge. So we beseech you to study this issue with a zeal for knowledge, putting in an extra effort as it talks about many different historical names and years.
(3) “Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.” (Dan 11:2) – Cyrus was the king of Persia when the angel delivered Daniel this message. The angel says that three more kings will arise in Persia after Cyrus. The reign of Cyrus came to an end in 530 B.C. His three subsequent successors were Cambyses II who ruled from 530 B.C. – 523 B.C., Smerdis who reigned only for a few months and Darius I whose rule lasted from 522 B.C. – 486 B.C. Among these, Darius I gets mentioned in the Bible in a few places. It was this Darius that gave permission to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple whose construction had been blocked (See Ezra Chapter 6, Grace –Blossom32:Aug’10,Para03). It’s notable that the Second Jerusalem Temple was completed during his reign in 515 B.C. (Ez 6:15, See Grace – Blossom06:Sep’08,Para02). The fourth king who succeeded these three was Xerxes I. He reigned from 486 B.C – 465 B.C. The angel foretells here that this king would be far richer than all the others. Likewise, historical records confirm that Xerxes was indeed a vastly rich monarch. Furthermore, as this prophecy proclaims, during 480-479 B.C., Xerxes gathered a huge army and fought against Greece. This verse prophesies that Xerxes would stir up everyone against Greece. And that’s exactly what he accomplished – the great army he raised had battalions from many a nation under the Persian Empire. As a matter of fact, historical records tell us that many soldiers of this great army were from African nations, Arabs and even Indians. This verse restricts itself to only say that Xerxes would stir up everyone against Greece, but does not declare he would win that war. Indeed, even though Xerxes raised a huge army, he ended up suffering a stunning defeat at the hands of the Greeks. We are able to understand the nature of this prophetic section from this particular verse itself. If one set about foretelling the history of all the kings that would arise after the times of Daniel, one would have to write a whole new Bible for that. Therefore, this prophecy talks about only the significant kings after Daniel’s times and foretells only critical historical events. That’s why it does not mention anything about the three kings that arose after Cyrus, but rather elaborates on the historically significant Xerxes, the fourth king. Especially, the defeat of Xerxes, when he went out to battle against Greece changed the course of history and paved the way for the formation of the Greek Empire in the following period. If Xerxes had instead won that war, there would have been no Greek Empire and world history would have taken a totally different turn. As a matter of fact, the stunning defeat of Xerxes is something that remains popular even today. It is notable that the famous Battle of Thermopylae, where just 300 Greek soldiers resisted tens of thousands of Persian forces, making them struggle for many days, actually happened as part of this Persian-Greek War. Also, in many Biblical translations like the KJV, the Book of Esther mentions a Persian king named Ahasuerus (KJV Esther 1:1,2). It’s noteworthy that this king is none other than the Xerxes we just talked about (Modern translations like the NIV refer to him by his more famous name there).
(4) ‘Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others.’ (Dan 11:3,4) – The prophecy ignores the rest of the unimportant Persian kings and moves onto Alexander the Great, the next historically significant monarch. Indeed, Alexander was the next mighty king to rise after Xerxes in world history. This verse prophesies that this mighty king would do as he pleases. Likewise, Alexander exercised great power and defeated many nations including the Persian Empire that was the superpower of his times and established the Greek Empire. As a matter of fact, there is indeed a link between the Persian king Xerxes’ invasion of Greece (prophesied in the previous verse) and the rise of the Greek Alexander. A thirst for revenge for that Persian invasion did play a role in Alexander going to war against the Persian Empire and ultimately gaining victory in 331 B.C. Alexander was such a mighty king that not only did he defeat the Persian Empire, but also conquered all the known nations of his times in a matter of just 5 years (334 B.C. – 330 B.C.). It’s remarkable that he came even till North India. But in 323 B.C. he died an unexpected sudden death at an early age of 32. And as this verse foretold, the empire he built did not go to his descendants after his demise. The scripture predicted his empire would be broken up toward four directions. And that’s exactly what happened after two years of chaos. In 321 B.C., Alexander’s four army commanders partitioned the Greek empire into four portions, allotting one for each of them. Alexander’s heirs were murdered. The partitions among the commanders were as follows – Cassander took control of the state of Macedonia. Lysimachus got the Thrace region. Syria went to Seleucus I Nicator and Ptolemy I Soter became the king of Egypt. It’s especially noteworthy that Jerusalem and other parts of Israel ended up under Ptolemy I Soter, the king of Egypt. Thus, Alexander’s empire neither remained under his rule nor went to his descendants, but rather was broken away into four portions. And the Bible foretold this almost 200 years ahead! How incredible is that!
(5) “The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power.” (Dan 11:5) – From this verse onward, the angel separates the kings as of the South and of the North and starts prophesying their history. Naturally a question arises. To the North and South of which place is the prophecy referencing? The answer is to the North and South of Israel, the homeland of Daniel’s people (especially Jerusalem). What was the kingdom that rose to the South of Jerusalem after the death of Alexander? It was Egypt that was ruled by Ptolemy I Soter and his descendants who succeeded him. And what was the kingdom established to the North of Jerusalem after Alexander’s passing? That was Syria under the control of Seleucus I Nicator and his dynasty. These were the two kingdoms that exercised enormous influence over the nation of Israel for a prolonged period of time. So the angel starts predicting the history of those two nations from this verse. The king of the South mentioned here is essentially Ptolemy I Soter, the then king of Egypt to the south of Jerusalem. As we saw before, he used to be a commander in Alexander’s army and started reigning in Egypt from the year that Alexander died i.e. 323 B.C. He gave himself the title of Pharaoh in 304 B.C. and established the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt. As the verse says here, he was very strong. But the verse also predicts one of his commanders becoming stronger than him. Who was that? It was actually Seleucus I Nicator himself. A little earlier we saw that Seleucus I Nicator was another commander who took control of Syria when Alexander died. That happened in 321 B.C. But when under a ferocious attack from Alexander’s another commander named Antigonus, Seleucus I Nicator escaped from his capital city of Babylon in 315 B.C. and sought refuge in Egypt with Ptolemy I Soter. Since Ptolemy I Soter helped him, Seleucus I Nicator subjected himself to Ptolemy I Soter and fought against Antigonus. That’s why this verse rightly forecasts that he would be one of the commanders under Ptolemy I Soter, the king of the South. With the aid of Ptolemy I Soter, Seleucus I Nicator retook his capital city of Babylon in 311 B.C. and crowned himself the king of Syria in 305 B.C. Thus, he who reclaimed his kingdom with the help of Ptolemy I Soter, in latter days established a powerful kingdom of his own, as this verse prophesies, a kingdom that was much vaster than Ptolemy I Soter’s dominion. And it was this kingdom that was to the North of Israel then. The kingdom of Egypt founded by Ptolemy I Soter lasted till 30 B.C. and the kingdom of Syria constituted by Seleucus I Nicator persisted till 64 B.C. It’s notable that both these kingdoms were ultimately seized by the Roman Empire. Those being the case, the upcoming verses essentially predict the significant historical events of these two kingdoms till then.
(6) ‘After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be betrayed, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.’ (Dan 11:6) – Ptolemy I Soter who ruled the southern kingdom of Egypt died in 285 B.C. His son and successor Ptolemy II Philadelphus reigned till 246 B.C. Seleucus I Nicator, the king of the North was assassinated by a plot in 281 B.C. Then his son Antiochus I Soter came to power and ruled till his death in 262 B.C. That brought his heir Antiochus II Theos to the throne. Therefore between 262 B.C. and 246 B.C., Ptolemy II Philadelphus was the king of the South and Antiochus II Theos was the king of the North. This verse foretells the happenings of those years. The southern Ptolemy II Philadelphus and the northern Antiochus II Theos remained foes for a long time. But around 250 B.C. they formed an alliance for political reasons. To solidify that alliance Antiochus II Theos married Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. She is the daughter of the king of the South mentioned in this verse, who goes to the king of the North to make an alliance. Due to this political marriage, Antiochus II Theos not only divorced his first wife Laodice and exiled her, but also transferred the succession-rights to Berenice’s children. Even as he did this for political compulsions, he held great love for Laodice. Infact, he had even named a city after her – the city of Laodicea (mentioned in the Book of Revelation as the location of the first century Laodicean church). So when the southern Ptolemy II Philadelphus died in 246 B.C., Antiochus II Theos got back together with Laodice. But the same year, Laodice who had been longing for revenge for his earlier betrayal, not only poisoned him to his death, but also had Berenice and her infant son murdered. She then proclaimed her own son Seleucus II Callinicus as king. Thus, as this verse had foretold 300 years ahead, the daughter of the king of the South i.e. Berenice did not retain her power and the king of the North who married her i.e. Antiochus II Theos also lost his power and was killed. And exactly as this verse had prophesied, her royal escort and her child (It is rendered “her father” in most English translations but it could also be translated as “her child” as the footnote in NIV indicates) and all those who supported her in the royal court were also slain.
(7) “One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious. He will also seize their gods, their metal images and their valuable articles of silver and gold and carry them off to Egypt. For some years he will leave the king of the North alone.” (Dan 11:7,8) – Note that the pronoun “her” is a reference to the queen Berenice of the preceding verse. These verses foretell that someone from her family line would arise and attack the king of the North to avenge her death. And that’s exactly what happened. We saw earlier that she was killed only after the death of her father Ptolemy II Philadelphus in 246 B.C. Her father was succeeded by her brother Ptolemy III Eugertes who ruled the southern kingdom of Egypt till 222 B.C. Unable to stomach the murder of his sister Berenice, he went to war against Seleucus II Callinicus who had assumed power as the king of the North. Indeed, Ptolemy III Eugertes is the “one from her family line” proclaimed by this prophecy. And as predicted, his invasion resulted in a great victory. He defeated the commanders of Seleucus II Callinicus, the king of the North and conquered many of his fortresses. He seized a lot of valuable articles of silver and gold, idols and metal images and carried them off to Egypt. The latter part of the eighth verse has been rendered inaccurately in many English translations like the KJV: “he shall continue more years than the king of the north.” The NIV has it right: “For some years he will leave the king of the North alone.” Likewise, historical records tell us that Ptolemy III Eugertes reached a peace accord with Seleucus II Callinicus in 240 B.C. After that, peace prevailed between the two kingdoms for some time.
(8) Daniel 11:9 has been entirely mistranslated in many of the English translations like the KJV: ‘So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land.’ The NIV renders it accurately: ‘Then the king of the North will invade the realm of the king of the South but will retreat to his own country.’ Essentially it’s predicting that Seleucus II Callinicus, the king of the North still seething from his defeat at the hands of Ptolemy III Eugertes, would attack the southern Egypt after a while. It also prophesies that he would lose and retreat back to his own country. Notes of the Latin historian Justinus confirm these events.
(9) ‘His sons will prepare for war and assemble a great army, which will sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle as far as his fortress.’ (Dan 11:10) – The fulfilment of this particular verse shows us how this prophecy foretold future events with such an intricate accuracy. Seleucus II Callinicus who retreated back home after being defeated in southern Egypt, died in 227 B.C. His son Seleucus III Ceraunus ascended the throne. As this verse predicts, he started preparing for war and to assemble a great army to avenge the losses suffered by his father at the hands of Egypt. But pay attention to the plurality – ‘sons’ – in the verse. The KJV renders it as “his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through”. Essentially it implies that his sons would assemble great armies, but only one son would go and fight. And that’s exactly what happened. Seleucus III Ceraunus who became king of the North in 227 B.C. was assassinated by a conspiracy in 223 B.C. before he could finish his preparations to go make war against the South. That brought his brother Antiochus III Magnus (another son of Seleucus II Callinicus) to power, who continued the force build-up against the southern kingdom. And ultimately it was he who went to war against the South in 219 B.C. Thus, as this verse had prophesied, two sons of Seleucus II Callinicus assembled a multitude of great forces to fight the South. And in the end, one of them i.e. Antiochus III Magnus, as predicted by the prophecy, charged down south to make war. He gained many a victory and lived till 187 B.C. And it is his history that this verse and subsequent verses till the 19th verse elaborate in detail. First it’s written that he would sweep on like an irresistible flood and carry the battle to the southern kingdom of Egypt. Likewise, he attacked Egypt in 219 B.C. When Berenice’s brother Ptolemy III Eugertes who had become the king of the South in 246 B.C. met his death in 222 B.C., his son Ptolemy IV Philopator succeeded him. So when Antiochus III Magnus invaded the southern Egypt in 219 B.C., the king of the South was Ptolemy IV Philopator. This verse forecasts that Antiochus III Magnuswould retake a fortress. When the southern Ptolemy III Eugertes had earlier invaded the North to avenge the killing of his sister Berenice, he had captured one of the important fortresses of the North named Seleucia. That fortress was in the hands of Egypt even till the times of Antiochus III Magnus who reclaimed this fortress back for the North. This verse predicted that accurately. Furthermore, during this invasion he also captured Jerusalem and other parts of the nation of Israel that had been under the rule of Egypt till then.
(10) “Then the king of the South will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated. When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant.” (Dan 11:11,12) – Angered by Antiochus III Magnus’ invasion of Egypt, the king of the South Ptolemy IV Philopator retaliated in 217 B.C. by attacking the northern kingdom. These verses predict that reprisal attack. As this prophecy preannounced, northern Antiochus III Magnus raised ‘a large army’ against the invading Ptolemy IV Philopator. But as predicted by the prophecy, that army suffered defeat at the hands of Ptolemy IV Philopator. He recaptured many regions including the nation of Israel that he had lost earlier to Antiochus III Magnus. Brimming with pride, he slaughtered many thousands. Yet he did not pursue Antiochus III Magnus to finish him off. So, even as he regained the regions he had lost earlier, he did not remain triumphant. Historians tell us that if he had hunted down the then-weakened Antiochus III Magnus, he would have been able to crush him completely and could have remained triumphant. History does not document why he did not do that. Maybe his pride told him it was enough but this was a huge mistake because while Antiochus III Magnus did not retaliate till the death of Ptolemy IV Philopator (203 B.C.), this mistake paved the way for him to do that later. Upcoming verses describe that reprisal attack on Egypt.
(11) ‘For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped. In those times many will rise against the king of the South. Those who are violent among your own people will rebel in fulfillment of the vision, but without success. Then the king of the North will come and build up siege ramps and will capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will be powerless to resist; even their best troops will not have the strength to stand.’ (Dan 11:13–15) – Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of the southern Egypt breathed his last in 203 B.C. and his son Ptolemy V Epiphanes had to ascend the throne when he was still a small boy. Sensing an opportunity to exact revenge for his earlier defeat, Antiochus III Magnus mustered an army much larger than the one he had before and came against Egypt in 203 B.C. These verses foretell that invasion. The prophecy says that many would rise against the southern kingdom of Egypt during those times. This too was fulfilled. Philip V, King of Macedonia joined Antiochus III Magnus in his attack on Egypt. And whom does this prophecy describe as ‘Those who are violent among your own people’? It’s essentially the soldiers among the people of Israel. We saw earlier that Israel was under the rule of the southern Egypt for long and Antiochus III Magnus captured it for a brief period only to have it taken back by Egypt’s Ptolemy IV Philopator. But Ptolemy IV Philopator, described as someone “filled with pride” treated the Jews with contempt and cruelty. Hence the people of Israel hated Egypt. So when the northern Antiochus III Magnus came against Egypt in 203 B.C., many Jewish soldiers aligned with him and rebelled against Egypt in fulfilment of this vision. Furthermore, as this prophecy proclaims, the king of the North Antiochus III Magnus captured many important fortified cities. The forces of the king of the South Ptolemy V Epiphanes were powerless to resist and even his best troops had no strength to stand. Thus, the northern Antiochus III Magnus reclaimed many regions including the nation of Israel.
-To be continued –