Here in September 2016, we are in the heat of a presidential campaign that has focused more than any other on the challenges of global change. Global change has caused political protest in two important areas. First, the global economy has produced a real net increase in global wealth, but not everyone in America has benefited from it; and some have suffered loss. trade deals with other countries that have caused job loss to millions of blue-collar workers in manufacturing while amply rewarding those corporations and financiers who have benefited from the real increase in global wealth and trade. America has the greatest gap in wealth between the rich and poor since the 1890’s and middle class incomes have declined in real terms over the past forty years.

The other global change that is more personal and tragic is mass migration of people fleeing war-torn or oppressed and dysfunctional countries. There are over 11 million illegal aliens in our country; and along with a legal change in immigration law in 1965, this has literally changed the complexion of our country over the past two generations. America is now majority non-white.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the European Union is being distressed by the constant influx of refugees from war-torn states like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and economic migrants from desperately poor countries in Africa and Asia. According to a leading writer on global trends, Thomas Friedman, the Mediterranean Sea has become the dividing line between the ordered world to the north and the disordered world to the south and east. Every day thousands of people are herded by unscrupulous human traffickers onto unsafe vessels to make the perilous journey across the great sea – some to be rescued and others to perish.

Rapid change always distresses those who affected by it; and when a whole country experiences it, the anxiety and fears of people who feel they have the most to lose naturally spills out into the political realm. The unexpected rise of Donald Trump to become the Republican Party nominee reflects a large segment of America’s population who genuinely feel threatened with the loss of the country they once knew. The global economy is much more competitive and it’s harder for young Americans to find quality employment than ever before.

This is the economy you will face when you leave prison, and you are wise if you are steadily investing in both knowledge and job skills while you are in prison. More importantly, it is vital that you strengthen your faith to cope with the challenge of living as a free man in 21^st century America. God will be with you, but He expects you to act courageously and wisely, trusting always in Him.

The Jewish refugees in the sixth century BC had experienced a far more ferocious reversal of fortune than anything we have known. They faced the uncertainty of what to do after the fall of Babylon to Persia. They had become relatively secure living around Babylon, but now longed to return to their ancient homeland. They were encouraged by encouraged by their own leaders and King Cyrus’ magnanimous decree to do so. Thousands of Jews migrated back to Judaea and rebuilt the temple and then the city walls of their ancient capital, Jerusalem.

In 536 BC, Daniel received a prophetic warning of the real dangers they would face in the coming centuries. Daniel was assured that at the end of time they would be triumphant and find their ultimate peace – not in this world – but in their resurrection from the dead to everlasting life. In Daniel 11 we are in the heart of the longest, single prophetic revelation in the Old Testament, from Daniel 10:10 through the end of Daniel 12. As I noted last month, the speaker was Messiah, the Son of God, in his preincarnate form: a theophany. That God spoke face-to-face with Daniel, the Jews’ most esteemed prophet and leader, signified how important this prophecy was.

In response to Daniel’s prayer for his people and land, Messiah forewarned the Jews through him of momentous events for centuries to come. Daniel 10 explicitly affirmed what prophecies in Daniel 2,7 and 8 had foretold in visionary form. Messiah and His angels were warring against a demonic Prince of Persia to enable their rising rival to the west, Greece, to avoid conquest and ultimately to put the mighty Persian Achaemenid Empire to an end. This empire spanned from 559 to 330 BC.

Now, in Daniel 11, Messiah’s revelation shifted from the realm of heavenly conflict to describe in broad terms the human political conflicts that would dominate the Middle East and threaten the small recovering province of Judaea. I will briefly detail the political intrigue and conflicts that Messiah unfolded to Daniel.

I will also make reference to a couple important books of Jewish history of the second century BC that go into much greater detail about the events described in Daniel 11. They are 1^st and 2^nd Maccabees. They were not included as sacred canon by the Jews, and so these books should not be regarded as infallible Scripture. But they accurately illuminate the perspective of pious Jews of their times on the Jewish revolt that occurred from 175 to 134 BC and resulted in a brief period of Jewish sovereignty. First Maccabees 2:59-60 cites Daniel and his three friends’ deliverance, respectively from the mouth of lions and the fire – an important historical argument against those who claim Daniel was also written in the second century.

What is really important for us to learn from this chapter is the theme of the Book of Daniel. God is the sovereign King and ultimately decides what will occur on earth to guide the earth to a wise end. The first nine chapters of Daniel set the stage for these critical last three chapters, where the life of God’s Chosen People would be at greatest risk. Ironically, the purpose for which all Judaea’s suffering would lead was standing right before Daniel – Messiah Himself would be born into a hurting world at the appointed time to offer both Jew and Gentile a sure way of eternal salvation, and hope in a seemingly hopeless world.

So let’s look at this long and bewildering chapter 11 of Daniel together. Reading from verse 1: “In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. ² And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece. ³ And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. ⁴ But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.”

Messiah strengthened the Archangel Michael in his battle with the Prince of Persia, in order to protect the Jewish people. Verse 2 sweeps over the history of Persia, describing a fourth king Emperor Xerxes (485-465 BC) who sought to conquer Greece. Xerxes failed and aroused the Greek city-states to unify against Persia. This later helped Alexander of Macedon to unify Greece for his successful conquest of Persia. He was the “mighty king [who ruled] with great authority” in verse 3. Alexander died in 323 BC, probably of typhoid, less than seven years after he conquered Persia; and his vast empire was divided among his generals, not his descendants, as verse 4 stated.

The division of Alexander’s empire, starting in 322 BC, marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Empire or Era, where Greek culture fused with that of the Near East to lay the foundation of Western civilization. The Hellenistic era lasted roughly two centuries. Greek eventually supplanted Aramaic as the trade language of the region, which is why the New Testament was written in Greek. Aramaic continued to be the common language of the region. Jesus normally spoke Aramaic, though he certainly knew both Greek and Hebrew.

The two greatest kingdoms of the Hellenistic period were the Seleucid Empire of the north, with Antioch in Northwest Syria as its capital, and the Ptolemaic kingdom of the South that covered modern-day Egypt and Libya along the Mediterranean. Alexandria was the capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom. Antioch and Alexandria continued to be major cities and centers of learning until Islam supplanted them. Antioch was the first city with a mixed Jewish and Gentile Church, where believers were first called Christians, and became the launching point of Paul’s missionary journeys.

Judea lay at the southern end of the Seleucid Empire and butted up against the southern kingdom. Thus it was at the center of political and military rivalry between what Daniel called the Kings of the North and South. Verses 5 through 19 describe a series of political intrigues and military campaigns between North and South, known by historians as the Syrian Wars. In the century between 274 and 168 BC there were six Syrian wars between the Seleucids and Ptolemaics that left both kingdoms weakened and finally conquered by the Romans and the Parthians of north-east Persia. Imagine how uncertain it was to live in a land that for over a century was traversed by invading armies, who could plunder and pillage your villages at will. God knew that this period would greatly test the faith of His people, and spoke to Daniel to prepare them to persevere through protracted trials.

Reading verses 5 – 9: “Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed. ⁶ After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times. ⁷ But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. ⁸ Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. ⁹ Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land.

The strong king of the south and great prince in verse 5 was Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283-246 BCE); and his son Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221). Ptolemy II’s daughter Berenice married the north king Antiochus II Theos, bringing a short lived alliance. Berenice’s children were to be the new heirs to the throne. But Antiochus later returned to his first wife; and Berenice and her children were all killed. In revenge, Berenice’s brother Ptolemy III waged war against the northern king Seleucus II, in the 3rd Syrian War (245-241 BCE). He conquered their capital, Antioch, and carried back to Egypt immense booty, thousands of idolatrous images and vessels, and over 1,000 tons of silver (see v.8). The southern kingdom reached the height of its power under Ptolemy III.

Seleucus II’s successor Antiochus III the Great reigned from 223 to 191 BC. He is referred to in verses 10-19. He defeated Ptolemy IV in battle, recaptured all the lands ceded to the South, and successfully invaded the southern kingdom, cited in v. 10. However, he suffered a disastrous defeat against the Roman legions to the west (the coastlands of v. 18) and later died in a campaign against rebellious provinces in Persia (v. 19). Antiochus III was the last great Seleucid king.

Verse 20 refers to Antiochus the Great’s successor Seleucus IV: “Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.” Seleucus was called an “oppressor” or “exactor” of tributes because he sent a legate named Heliodorus to Jerusalem to extract tribute to pay off the Romans as part of the Treaty of Apamaea. Ironically, this same legate assassinated his liege and temporarily seized power for himself.

Now Daniel shifts to one particular insolent ruler who becomes the type of tyranny and of a mysterious evil king of the future that many identify as Antichrist. Reading v. 21: In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

Mithradates was the son of Antiochus the Great, and brother of King Seleucus IV. He had been held in Rome as a political hostage after his father’s defeat in 188 BC and then released after his brother took the throne in exchange for his nephew Demetrius. After Seleucus IV was assassinated by Heliodorus, Mithradates overthrew him with the help of another king and took the name Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 175 BC. The name Epiphanes means “God Appears,” and so he claimed a blasphemous epithet of divinity for himself. Reading on from vv. 22-28:

“The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. ²³ After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. ²⁴ In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. ²⁵ He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. ²⁶ Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain. ²⁷ As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time. ²⁸ Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land.

The two old rivals still battled for local supremacy. Ptolemy VI tried to wrest back lands that Antiochus III had seized from the South; so Antiochus IV went to war with him and defeated him, forcing Ptolemy VI to pay tribute. He returned home with “much plunder,” as v. 28 says, but he was also determined to undermine Jewish religious authority.

During this time, Judea was a province of Syria ruled by the high priest, Onias III. The Seleucids had previously allowed the Jews to govern themselves so long as they paid taxes. But Judea became culturally divided between those who admired the Hellenistic culture and the sporting competitions of the gymnasium. The gymnasium was a scandal to pious Jews, because men competed in the nude, and circumcised Jews were ridiculed for being circumcised. Many Jews wanted to Hellenize their land to fit in with the surrounding civilization, but Onias clung to the pious tradition established by earlier reformers like Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel.

Onias’ brother was part of the Hellenistic faction and had changed his name from Yeshua or Joshua to Jason. Jason persuaded the king to replace Onias with himself, and straightaway Jason set about building a stadium for Hellenist sports. Jason himself was usurped in 171 BC by a greedy schemer named Menelaus, who under Antiochus sought to crush the influence of pious Jews and Hellenize Judea.

²⁹ “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. ³⁰ For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.”

After Ptolemy broke his surrender treaty with Syria, Antiochus again invaded Egypt, and would have annexed it to his kingdom until an old Roman legate warned him that he would be at war with Rome if he did. Antiochus backed down; but during this time a riot in Jersualem forced his wicked high priest Menelaus to flee the city. Antiochus came to Judea in a rage believing this to be a revolt against his rule. 1 Maccabees tells how he came against Jerusalem with a strong force in 169 BC and “insolently entered the sanctuary” and stripped the temples of the golden altar… “the silver and gold and the precious vessels; he also took all the hidden treasures he could find….He shed much blood and spoke with great arrogance.”

Unlike his predecessors, Epiphanes abolished Jewish religious rites sought to impose the worship of Zeus on God’s Chosen People, attacking “the holy covenant”; and he made pretense of being a divine king. This is what made him despicable to God. 1 Maccabees 2 tells how Antiochus’ soldiers slaughtered Jews on the Sabbath who refused to comply with the king’s demands to make pagan sacrifices.

These outrages spurred a revolt by a priest named Mattathias. His third son, Judah, became known as Maccabeus or “the Hammer” because he relentlessly attacked the Hellenizers among the Jews and their Syrian supporters.

Antiochus responded viciously to this challenge to his authority. V. 31 says, “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.” 1 Macc. 1:54-57 explains this, “On the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five [or 167 BC] the king erected the desolating abomination upon the altar of burnt offerings, and in the surrounding cities of Judah they built pagan altars. ⁵⁵ They also burned incense at the doors of houses and in the streets. ⁵⁶ Any scrolls of the law that they found they tore up and burned. ⁵⁷ Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant, and whoever observed the law, was condemned to death by royal decree.”

Daniel continues “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.” Antiochus had superiority of numbers, but the Jewish fighters had zeal and faith in their God; and God stood by them. In a series of battles, Judah Maccabeus and his followers successfully overthrew Menelaus the usurping high priest; and later, with assistance from the Romans, Judas Maccabeus forced Antiochus IV to quit Judaea. Later his son Jonah broke completely from Seleucid control to found the Hasmonean Dynasty that ruled until Rome annexed Judaea in 63 BC.

The Bible says, “There is a time for war, and a time for peace.” Judas Maccabeus attacked and killed Syria’s cunning general Apollonius who had slaughtered pious Jews on the Sabbath. He then confronted another commander, named Seron, who outnumbered the Jewish force more than 3-to-1. Judas told his followers: “Many are easily hemmed in by a few; in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between deliverance by many or by few; ¹⁹ for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven. ²⁰ With great presumption and lawlessness they come against us to destroy us and our wives and children and to despoil us; ²¹ but we are fighting for our lives and our laws. ²² He will crush them before us; so do not fear them.” Judas launched a surprise attack and routed the Syrians. As the Lord told Daniel, “The people who know their God will display strength and take action.” And He continued:

³³ Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. ³⁴ Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy. ³⁵ Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.”

Sometimes there is a price to be paid for affirming righteousness. People in America don’t lose their lives for affirming biblical truth; but sometimes they lose their jobs, or are subtly shunned. There are Christian student societies like Inner Varsity that have been excluded from university campuses because they require their officers to be Christians, which effectively nullifies freedom of association. Will God’s people continue to display strength and take action?

The rest of Daniel 11 shifts to what is most likely a future antitype of Antiochus Epiphanes. Reading from v. 36: “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. ³⁷ He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. ³⁸ But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. ³⁹ He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.”

⁴⁰ “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. ⁴¹ He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. ⁴² Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. ⁴³ But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. ⁴⁴ But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. ⁴⁵ He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.”

This passage has no parallel to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes who died on a campaign against the invading Parthians of the East from disease. There are many parallels between this willful king, the boastful little horn of Daniel 7, the insolent king at the end of Daniel 8, the Lawless Man of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the Beast of Revelation 13 who speaks arrogantly and blasphemously, and kills those who won’t worship his image. This is the spirit of megalomania that defines Satan’s nature and has gripped every self-exalting tyrant throughout history. Adolph Hitler and Mao Zedong displayed these self-deifying, malignant narcissistic tendencies, although they didn’t openly proclaim themselves divine. So the question arises: is this king a specific person who will arise in the future, or a type of every tyrant who has exalted himself, as if he were a god, and committed mass murder in his name? Or is it both?

Jesus also implied that this king was someone other than Antiochus Epiphanes when he said in his Olivet Discourse: “When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” (Mt. 24:15-16). The abomination cited in Daniel 11:31, referred to a pagan sacrifice committed in the Second Temple by Antiochus. The Romans later repeated this desecration after they captured Jerusalem in 70 AD, by sacrificing a pig on the altar.

Some have speculated this willful king will be a Jew because the KJV translates v. 37 “He shall show no regard for the God of his fathers” and not “gods of his fathers” as in other translations. I don’t see this as likely. What is significant is that he magnifies himself above all gods and honors military might: “a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know.” This could be a new cult enacted with himself as the son, and a higher god – i.e. Satan – as the father in mockery of our God.

The Messiah concluded his passage about the insolent king by describing a regional war that swept through many countries in this northern king’s struggle against the king of the South. Again, it is uncertain if He was pointing to a particular king or as the type of all power-hungry tyrants. Tyrants frequently resort to war as the most expedient means of expanding their base of power. They unwittingly carry out the whims of the greatest tyrant of all, Satan, whose will is to steal, kill and destroy.