Today we come to another challenging chapter in Daniel. It’s the prophecy of the Syrian wars given in such detail, that many a pastor has, for the sake of saving the church a history lesson, not preached on it. It is also a prophecy that is so historically accurate that people say it just could not have been written before the events took place. The only problem is that we now have almost indisputable evidence that it was. The Greek Bible of the Old Testament is dated to at least 300 years before Christ and it has the book of Daniel which is 150 years before some of these events happened. Still today this is one of the most succinct and accurate accounts from that time between the rough years of 500BC to 100BC.
As one author states, “The prophecy is really more perfect than any history, and is so wonderfully exact, not only to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, but likewise equally so beyond that time, that we may conclude, ‘No one could predict time but the one who has time in his power.”
This is the call to faithfulness in hard times, to believe God is directing every peace treaty, every war, every bomb, every persecution, every victory and defeat. He is directing every up and every down in the economy. The weakness of the rand, the rise of China, the fall of Europe. He is directing Russian troop movement in Crimea, and the gangsters on the Cape Flats. God is working amid trouble, pain, and heartache in the church and in the country so that as verse 35 says, “We may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the end of time. Nothing is by chance. Nothing is meaningless in Christ. The outcomes of history have been decreed in heaven’s throne room. Remember this is all in the context of chapter 10, this is about the battle of Victory – and the suffering of God’s people at the hands of evil. But also, their preservation by the hand of God.
God is the author of the Future and he is bringing it to an end.
- The next 400 years… and beyond.
- The North and the South
- The contemptible person
- And beyond
- What history teaches us.
The next 400 years… and beyond.
The North and the South
In verse 2 we read, “Now then, I tell you the truth: three more kings will appear 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.” This is about the rest of the Persian kings, ending with Xerxes, who through his wealth gathered unbelievably large armies. An ancient historian puts the number at 1 million, with ten thousand elite troops, called the, ‘Invincibles’. The kingdom of this world likes to think it is invincible in the height of power, but as we shall see in the rest of this vision through chapter 12 only one kingdom is invincible. Only one will last forever. Only one people will endure for eternity.
Anyways the Persians and Xerxes were soundly defeated by Alexander who we read about in verse 3, “Then a mighty king will appear, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases.”
But his kingdom was blown away by the wind. For verse 4 talks about his whole empire broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven, neither do his children benefit from his kingdom. O how empty and fleeting is all the power and wealth of the world. Here today gone tomorrow. Look at how much space Alexander the Great gets. History books are full of this man, but he only gets 1 verse in this whole chapter.
History is about what is going on in God’s house, in his land, and among his people. Alexander is only the one part of God’s story, and not a very great part either. What we see as greatness is very often not so great in God’s eyes. And what we consider insignificant is often more significant than we give it credit for.
Then in verse 4-20 we follow two of the four kingdoms that came from Alexander’s empire. These kingdoms are called the north and the south. North and south of what? North and south of God’s beautiful land, where his glory dwelled. The actual names of these kingdoms were the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, which were the names of the first rulers, and as you will see, also many of their sons.
This is the time of what the historians called the 5 Syrian wars, and this is one of the few times Wikipedia and the Bible match up almost perfectly. Normally I don’t recommend Wikipedia, but you can read about these wars there and see how they match what Daniel predicted would happen.
We begin in verse 5. What happened was that Egypt and north Africa was given to Ptolemy I after Alexander died. One his generals, Seleucus I, conquered Syria and started to rule there. So now you have Ptolemies in Egypt in the south and Seleucids in the north in Syria. These two guys were friends and there is peace.
They died, and their sons became king, Ptolemy II in the south and Antiochus II in the north (Must have not had baby naming books back then). They also make a treaty. And like any good treaty between rulers, it involves a marriage. Ptolemy II sent his daughter, Bernice, up to Antiochus to be married. Problem is Antiochus is already married to Laodice. But he doesn’t let that stop him. He simply divorces the first wife and takes the new treaty wife, Bernice.
But Ptolemy II, the dad of Bernice, dies, and his son, the brother of Bernice, becomes king of Egypt. The guy up north, Antiochus decides then to divorce Bernice and remarry Laodice. Laodice is not too happy, so she kills Bernice, Bernice’s son, and poisons her husband. Which is what verse 6b talks about. And then sets up her own son Seleucid II Callinicus as king in 246 BC. As we read in verse 7a. “One from her own line will arise in her place.”
So now we have Seleucid Callinicus II, son of Laodice, up north, and Ptolemy III, brother of dead treaty wife, Bernice, reigning in the south. You can imagine he is not too happy that his sister was divorced and then assassinated. So, he gets his army together to attack and boy, is he ever successful, as verse 8a says. History tell us he carried off 40,000 talents of silver, 2,500 idol statues, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Callinicus tries to counter attack in 240BC as we read in verse 9, but is not successful.
This is accurate people! Excitingly so. But the point to remember here is that in the middle of all this is little Israel.
Then in verse 10 we have a new king up north, called Antiochus III, or the Great, and in the south, you have Ptolemy the IV or Ptolemy Eugerates. The south is kind of in power, they control Syria along with Israel. He has the power base. But Antiochus decides to attack him and come at him with a great army. 70,000 men, 5,000 horseman, and 73 elephants. And he comes down into Syria and Israel.
Then we read in verse 11, the king of the south was moved to anger. Wouldn’t you be? If someone arrives at your border with 75000 people? What does he do? Well verse 11 says, he gets a big army together. 62,000 infantry, 6,000 Calvary, and 103 elephants. They go at it. And you could say the south was very effective in battle. The north lost 10,000 footmen, 300 horsemen and 5 elephants. But we know that it didn’t really weaken the north, it just made him angrier. As we shall see in verse 13.
After this victory he, for a time, persecuted the Jews in Alexandria as we read in verse 12. It is said it all started when he visited Jerusalem and tried to enter the temple. Some miracle happened, and he was thrown outside violently. He then went back to Egypt and held a grudge against the Jews living there. He forced them to worship the Egyptians gods, and tortured them if they refused. The story is that he later repented when a priest named Eleazer prayed for him.
Then in verse 13 we have Antiochus the III, or Great, get an even bigger army together. And this is exactly what happened 13 years after the first army was beaten. In verse 14 we read that also many people in Judea and Syria joined him, because they were getting tired of Ptolemy’s rule, and were probably hoping for independence.
They were rebel revolutionaries who wanted independence but as verse 14 says they would fail in their goal for independence. God had other plans. They would just switch one overlord for another.
Anyways this guy Antiochus the Great comes down and wins. He takes all of Syria and Israel, and Ptolemy IV is sent to Egypt. The city in verse 15 is probably Sidon, where the southern general retreated to. It is again amazing how this matches up perfectly. As verse 16 says, “he sets himself up in the beautiful land. The land of God is under new management. No better than the first.
Then in verse 17 he decides to strengthen his power and make an alliance with the king of the south. It’s perfect, because Ptolemy IV died, and leaves the throne to his very young son, Ptolemy V. He figures this boy will be easily manipulated, so he makes a treaty and gives him his daughter in marriage, hoping that she will hand the kingdom to him. This was a legendary woman of great beauty called Cleopatra.
Well long story short. The Bible is right in its predictions again, as verse 17B states, “His plans will not succeed or help him.” Cleopatra loved the power she had from being married to the boy king, and she sided with her husband against her father and the whole thing was a miserable failure.
So instead of attacking Egypt, he takes out his anger on the coastland or the Greek islands which were part of Rome. Unfortunately for him, Rome was the wrong place and the wrong people to mess with. As verse 18b states, “But a commander will put an end to his insolence and turn his insolence back on him.” The commander in verse 18 is probably Scipion, the Roman commander who also defeated Hannibal.
Verse 19 says, “After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more.” You know what happened? He was so distressed after losing his daughter, and his honor, he went home and in one crazy fit he looted his own god’s temple (The temple of Jupiter) to pay the Romans the tribute they required. His own people got so mad they killed him. The Bible is right again.
So, in verse 20 we have his son, Seleucus IV who “sent out a royal tax collector to maintain the royal splendor.” They had to pay 1000 talents to Rome every year due to his father’s losses. In order to do that he orders one of his commanders to loot the temple in Jerusalem. But he is poisoned. Which matches up perfectly with verse 20.
Did I mention I love the truth of this book? The Bible is thrilling in the detail. I hope you are as excited as I am about how this all matches up.
The contemptible person
And now the Bible zooms in even closer on this guy we have already met, Antiochus Epiphanes. He is called in verse 21, “A contemptible person.” How would you like to be introduced that way, a “vile, contemptible, evil person?” But the Bible is just calling these people as it sees it. God is not in the business of sugarcoating over wrong, oppression, and evil.
This guy comes to the throne while the rightful heir is a prisoner in Rome. He had no right to the throne, but he took it over through intrigue, flattery, and bribery. He comes in with the pretense of peace and friendship. He gets into the places where there is strength and wealth, like we read in verse 24 and gains power by making friends. Then, when ultimately he is in power, he rules with an iron fist.
He conquers most of Egypt too, as we read in verse 25. Not because the Egyptians were so weak but because the Egyptian king’s own advisors turned on him, as we read in verse 26. Antiochus Epiphanes came there to celebrate a wedding, and while there he bribed the king’s officials to take his side. Ptolemy tries to fight back but to no avail. Finally, they make a treaty (Basically lie to each other). Then this vile man Antiochus Epiphanes is forced to go back to deal with a Jewish revolt.
As verse 28 says, he marched on Jerusalem after he left this meeting in Egypt. He marched on Jerusalem and he sacked the city, and he cruelly slaughtered people, and he brought about horrible suffering.
Then we come to verse 29 and 30. He tries the same tricks again by attacking the south. This time the king of the south is sick of it and calls the Romans into help. And the Romans send a delegation from the senate. They need the Egyptian grain. So, they come.
They come to Antiochus and meet him on the battlefield in front of all his commanders. And tell him to go home. Now if you knew anything about this man, he did not like to be humiliated. So, he asked for more time, and would come back tomorrow. But the senator took a stick and drew a line in the sand in front of everyone and said if you cross this line it will be a declaration of war. Well Antiochus knew he couldn’t win so he is humiliated in front of everyone and returns to Jerusalem and takes his humiliation, and frustration out on the Jewish citizens. This is the 3 and half year reign of terror we heard about in chapter 8 and we have a similar story here in verse 33-35.
It was a horrible time. They put to death the women who had their children circumcised, and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mother's necks. But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die. And very great wrath came upon Israel.' Dear church this is a clarion call for the people of God to be faithful. Daniel is seeing some dark things, but here in the midst of darkness is light!
A faithful remnant. A theme that comes through throughout the old testament. The Faith that holds onto the promises no matter what. Because they know that no matter what, God will be true. And it is through this that the people are purified.
And beyond
And then finally we come to verse 36 to the end. This is where it gets tricky, because the language doesn’t change, but it seems to talk about someone beyond Antiochus Epiphanes. As the famous commentator Matthew Henry says, "The remainder of this prophecy is very difficult, and commentators differ much respecting it. From Antiochus the account seems to pass to the antichrist.”
Here we see again this man pointing beyond himself, in a sense to the antichrist of every age, but also to someone specific. Because it would be strange if this whole chapter is very specific and this last part isn’t. Some think it could be the Roman emperors, others think it could be someone yet to come since chapter 12 pushes us into the second coming of Christ!
Here God is stretching history to Christ and beyond him. Saying, I am the author of everything! You must believe, especially in the dark times.
For here we have a man who exalts himself over all things! He even says unheard of things against the God of gods. And guess what?! He will get away with it for a time! That is shocking...but, it will only be a time. Because here again like every other chapter in Daniel the guy comes to an end – with no one to help. Whatever he is, wherever he is, this satanic man will come to an end. Whether he is in the past, or still coming. It will end. Satan will ultimately be thrown into the pit. It is the same theme in Revelation.
Finally, what do we do with all this. You might say, ”So what”? Why in the world did I just give you the history of that ancient world? What good is it for you this week?
Just a few lessons.
First: Prepare for war… history is about the greatest battle of all. History revolves around the church. It focuses on these kingdoms, why? Because God cares about his church, his land, his kingdom. And these kings and kingdoms were trampling on Gods kingdom.
Second: The future is like the past to our God. It belongs to him. And he has revealed it to his people, so that they may know he is in full control. And that knowledge leads to faithfulness. It’s as if this chapter is yelling out to his people in every age! DO YOU SEE?! I KNOW EXACTLY what will happen? I am Sovereign. We can look back and say WOW! How great is our God! We do not need to fear the future. We do not need to create our own destiny. We must be faithful, and trust.
Second. He will not abandon his people. Even in the hard times. It’s exactly when his people are oppressed, and the darkness is darkest that his people shine most brightly. We see this in Europe, and North America and it is true here too. The true children of God suddenly are revealed in a post Christian world, where people don’t go to church because it looks good or for the social benefits. Many jump on the bandwagon of Christianity but when culture turns they just as quickly jump off. When culture turns against the church, suddenly the true children of God may shine like stars.
Finally, there are three ways you can look at History:
Control - Control circumstances. control your own destiny, working hard, slaving away to make sure you can make and find the perfect job, perfect spouse, perfect house. Then you will be filled with worry or anger when life’s circumstances come against you;
Or maybe you are the passive fatalist, not driven at all, letting the future shape you. This tends people toward cynicism or apathy when they realize they cannot control circumstances.
God wanted his people to be neither of these, but rather to know that history was in his hands, so that they could be faithful to him in history, and trust him for the future, so that even in the darkest day he was their God.
Here, in this chapter, we are shown a third way. The way of faithfulness, and trust – an active faith that God is moving history for the sake of his church. That this battle will end in victory.
Amen