Daniel 11:2-35
We come now to one of the most detailed prophecies in the entire Bible. Daniel 11 is an absolutely amazing chapter within the Word; I actually read a number of teachers who say that there are 130 prophecies fulfilled in this section! It was all written 50, 100, 200, and 400 years before these things took place – in incredible detail
Prophecies already fulfilled:
1. Regarding Persia (Daniel 11:2)
2. Regarding Greece (Daniel 11:3–4)
3. Regarding Egypt and Syria (Daniel 11:5–20) (Ptolemy and Seleucid dynasties)
The Ptolemy line provided the rulers in Egypt, and the Seleucid line the rulers in the north (Syria).
4. Regarding Antiochus IV and Syria (Daniel 11:21–35)
The four future kings alluded to in Daniel 11:2 would be identified as:
1. Cambyses (529–522 b.c.) (Cyrus’ son)
2. Pseudo-Smerdis (522–521 b.c.)
3. Darius I Hystapes (521–486 b.c.)
4. Xerxes (485–465 b.c.), the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther.
In these verses we have amazing details on exactly how these battles would take place, where they would take place – the different people are precisely mentioned. When I taught this chapter at Calvary Chapel El Monte it took me 3 Sundays, and close to 30 pages of notes. If you would like me to send them to you, please email at manny@calvarychapelelmonte.com.
Towards the end of this chapter in Daniel 11:31, there is a bit of history that we might be more familiar with, and that is the Abomination of Desolation committed by Antiochus IV. He entered the temple and polluted the altar by sacrificing a pig upon it. He took away the daily sacrifices and other aspects of the Jewish law and set up an image of Zeus in the holy place. This is a foreshadowing of what the Antichrist will do in the future temple (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
At that time the Lord raised up a group of brothers eventually known as the Maccabees who flourished in the 2nd century B.C., in the priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV, and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem.
“The name Maccabee was a title of honor given to Judas, a son of Mattathias and the hero of the Jewish wars of independence, 168–164 BCE. Later the name Maccabees was extended to include his whole family, specifically Mattathias (his father) and Judas’s four brothers—John, Simon, Eleazar, and Jonathan.” – Britannica.com
This Jewish victory over Antiochus IV is the reason for the Holiday Hanukkah.
“The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.” – History.com
Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication/Lights was celebrated by Jesus (John 10:22) and is still widely celebrated today. This miraculous Jewish victory is the heart behind:
Daniel 11:32 (NIV) “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.”
The key for us resisting the enemy, is genuinely knowing our God. The King James Version tells us that we will carry out great exploits (achievements, deeds, triumphs)
Daniel 11:32 (NKJV) “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
We need to know that God is in the details and knows the end from the beginning. And we need to know our God and serve Him accordingly. It is there we find our strength it is very possible that the Maccabee brothers were inspired by the book of Daniel – they were able to read of their very victory…in advance!
1 John 3:7-24
John also spends a lot of time relaying the truth that one of the most important and revealing characteristics of a Christian, is love. If we don’t love others, we’re like Cain who killed Abel. And why did he kill him? Because Abel’s works were righteous. How tragic that those who have that seed of Satan also have that seed of hate and murder because they see something good in someone else.
How we need to guard our hearts from hatred. John and Jesus both connected hatred with murder (see Matthew 5:21-22).
It’s fascinating to see the flipside of all this, the logical flow of what happens simply depending on who we follow. If a person follows Satan, it inevitably leads to hate and murder. But if a person follows Jesus, it inevitably leads to love, and rather than taking life, we’re willing to lay down our lives for others. We learned this, and saw this, in Jesus our Lord…by this we know love (1 John 3:16).
John also teaches us that love is not just a word, it’s an action. When we love others we’re benevolent and we’ll help them in practical ways. Such a love, motivated by God’s love for us, assures our hearts that we really do know the Lord (1 John 3:19). Our feelings (heart) might condemn us, but the facts speak for themselves. We don’t live by feelings but by faith. And then the day comes when we’re no longer weak and our heart can’t condemn us (because we know better) we then have confidence before God and this completely transforms our prayer life, we will see more and more answered prayer (1 John 3:22; see also Hebrews 4:16).
All made possible in obedience to that first command, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!
Psalm 122:1-9
Another Psalm of Ascents; the people would sing these songs as they journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the various feasts.
Psalm 122:1 (NKJV) “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.'”
Warren Wiersbe, “Do you really rejoice when you have opportunity to go to God’s house and worship Him? We today can travel easily to a place of worship, but the ancient Jews had to walk a long distance. Yet the pilgrim was happy to go to God’s house.”
Jerusalem is compact, many people living in a relatively small geographical setting, but it’s because Jerusalem was blessed with the temple, it was the place of David’s descendants – therefore the people were joyful in going to Jerusalem, and therefore all people are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Today when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we not only think of the Jews, and that city, we consider all people…for ultimately peace will not happen, until the Prince of Peace, Jesus, comes and rules the world from the city of Jerusalem.
Proverbs 29:1
Proverbs 29:1 (NKJV) “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
You try to warn them, you dare to share the truth, but they just won’t listen. Their hearts are only getting harder and harder, they only seem increasingly stubborn, it makes no sense – – so here’s the promise. Their destruction will come suddenly, and one day, there will be no more chances – it happens suddenly and that without remedy.
Manny, pay attention to those warnings; don’t harden your neck, because it inevitably leads to a hardness of heart.
It’s true individually (Pharaoh), it can even be true nationally:
2 Chronicles 36:15–16 (NKJV) “And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.”
Genesis 6:3 (NKJV) “And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’”