The Book of Daniel Chapter 10 - 11:20

Greetings again, everybody, and welcome to the Bible study this evening. I wanted for us to quickly review, make sure that you know about the weeks in Daniel's 70-week prophecy. So let's go over that right quick once again. Remember, Daniel was praying that he would understand the 70 years that were determined upon Jeremiah's prophecy, and then this angel shows up, Gabriel, and says, I'm come to show you what shall be in the latter days. And he reveals to him the 70-weeks prophecy. And the prophecy is divided into seven sections. 62, first of all, seven weeks, 49 years for the building of the streets of Jerusalem, and then building the walls, and building Jerusalem up is 62, and we have those. Then we get 62, we get 69, and then we have a one-week remaining, which is 70, and that is the week that is to go. We talked about how some believe that Christ fulfilled the first half of that three and a half years with his ministry, but I see no evidence for that. We saw where a covenant is broken, and the one that is to come, the evil one, the little horn, goes about to destroy the city and the peoples thereof. So the Roman armies came in in 70 AD and crushed the Jews, and destroyed the temple, and from that time forward, the Jews have been seeking to return to Jerusalem, and they are, and to build a temple, and they are on the verge of doing that according to whatever what sources you might read on the internet. So when was Christ born? Christ, according to what we have taught through the years, and the most common date that I found it varies. Some say 6 BC, some say as late as 16 BC, which is hardly possible, and we have generally said he was born in 4 BC. Now, if you take the the decree that was issued to build the city again, which was issued in 457, the decree to build the city, so you add that 7 on to the 62 there, and you get 69. But you come to the year zero, and there are 23 years left over, and there's no year zero, so you add a year to that, you come out with 24. So in 24 AD. Now, it's like birthdays may fall here or there. You may have a birthday in February, and he'll turn whatever he might be in February, but really he had a progress. He was, he was, he died a year before, so it depends on how you intercolate those years. So, we just say that in all of our sermons, we say that Pentecost is on 31 AD, and we back up. When Christ was born in 4 BC, 24 BC, 24 AD, and we get 28. So somewhere around 27 years of age, Christ was on the scene performing miracles and so on, fulfilling the first three and a half years, or maybe it began three and a half years before, but then after the three and a half years, we come to another date, 31 AD, and it depends on how you add that four on to the 28. Of course, if you add the four on the 20, just straight 28, you'll get 32. But once again, I gave you an example that you you may have a birthday in February, and you died in January, and then they say you were such and such an age. So a lot of that depends on the historical sources and all of that. So I thought we would review that quickly, and I would entertain questions and comments at this time. Anybody have a question or comment about what I've just said?

70 years, 70 times 70, 490 years, 70 years to determine the decree to reveal Jerusalem, the date of the decree, 457. You got 490 years, so you go 490 years, and you come to AD, the birth of Christ, and they say he was born in 4 BC. So you add that 4 BC to what's left over of the 490s, 23, and the year zero you add one, and you add four, him being born in 4 BC, and you come up with 27, approximately 27, and then he was crucified in 31 AD on Passover. And then you saw that in Acts chapter 1, you see the ascension of Jesus Christ. They were told to wait there in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit was sent, and the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost, 31 AD, and the New Covenant Church, the New Testament Church, began. So any question or comment that you have? Okay, let's go then to, if you have no question or comment, let's go to Daniel chapter 9, I mean chapter 10. Daniel chapter 10.

And we want to begin, of course, in verse 1. Daniel chapter 10 and verse 1.

Daniel chapter 10 and verse 1, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belitishazir, according to the Chaldeans, and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. Once again, we see that phrase, the time appointed. God has an appointed time in which He is going to complete His plan upon the earth. Now, even though it says the time may be cut short, if the time were not cut short, it says Matthew 24, there should no be no flesh-shaped a liar.

God is executing His plan for humankind, and it will be on time. We don't have to sit around and wonder, is He going to complete His plan? He is going to complete His plan. He's not playing it by ear, per se. In some cases, because of an event that might happen, perhaps, as it says, He may cut the time short. Two thousand years ago, in the model of prayer, Jesus instructed us to pray for your kingdom to come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. So we're about two thousand years from that time, and He still has not come. So is there a way to know?

The only way to know is to search the scriptures for the answer. Some might say that God left the time appointed open-ended based on Matthew 24, where it says, and except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved. But for the elect's sake, the day shall be shortened. Now let's look at Matthew 24, and we'll start in verse 20. Matthew 24 and verse 20. Matthew 24 verse 20, but pray that your flight not be in the wonder neither on the Sabbath day for there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since this time, nor ever shall be.

So when that covenant is broken, now we read about in Daniel 9, when the covenant is broken, when the abomination of desolation is set up, that marks a countdown, as we have said many times. And except those days should be shortened, there shall be no flesh saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. But it doesn't mean that the time appointed will be shortened. I don't know exactly what is meant by this, but God is in control, and he has a time, as we shall see as we go along here.

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it and I. For there shall rise false Christ, false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders in as much that if were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go forth not there. Behold, he is in the secret places and the secret chambers.

Don't go there. It is after the abomination, verse 29, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Then shall appear the sign of man in heaven, and then shall the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and with glory.

Now, with regard to specificity, but showing exactly how exact God is, let's look at Revelation chapter 9, Revelation chapter 9 and 11 15. So our takeoff on this was in the first verse of Daniel 1, where it says, the time appointed was long. In other words, the complete fulfillment of this was a long time's off. So in Revelation chapter 9, and we'll begin in verse 11, Revelation 9 verse 11, Revelation 9 11, and they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies together in the...

That's chapter 11. I'm reading verse 9. Sorry. Chapter 9 verse 11. They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue his name is Apollyon. One woe is passed, and behold the other two woes will come shortly or hereafter. The six angels sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden alder, which before was before God, saying to the six angel which had the trumpet loose, the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates, and the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year, for to slay the third part of man.

So a day, an hour, and a year is specified with regard to that prophecy. Now, just like Christ said, no man knows the day or nor the hour, but once the abomination is placed and the countdown begins, like we read from Matthew 24-29, after the tribulation of those days, you shall see the Son of Man coming in His glory. So we're going back now to Daniel 10 and verse 1, whose name was called Belteshazzar in the Chaldean tongue, and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long, and He understood the thing and had understanding of the vision.

In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. So he was fasting and praying. It wasn't a total fast like we do on atonement. No person without medical attention, some kind of help, and you say, well, maybe God helped him, but maybe He didn't.

But verse 10 tells you, I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, so it was almost a total fast, but not quite. Neither did I annoy myself at all, three times until three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the 24th day of the first month, so if that's the sacred calendar, and I assume that it is, that would be probably just after Passover, as I was by the side of the Great River, which is Hildeko.

Now, Hildeko is also mentioned in Genesis 2.14 as being in the Garden of Eden. So you can tell where the Garden of Eden is, by Genesis 2.14, in the name of the Third River, Hildeko, that which goes toward the east of Syria and the Fourth River, Euphrates. So it's the Tigris and Euphrates River. The Tigris and Euphrates River run together after they passed Babylon. There's a whole area of land in between the rivers, and that was the area that was so coveted by so many people.

So that's, in that area, was the Garden of Eden. Now we come to the next verse, verse 5. Then I lifted my eyes and be looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were dirtied with fine gold of Eufas. Now, it's similar to the language that we saw in chapter and an earlier chapter just before this. Chapter 9, where the 70 weeks prophecy was revealed, Gabriel was called a man. It was, it is an angel. His body also was like Beryl. Now these next two or three verses greatly parallel the description of Christ, given in Revelation chapter 1 verses 10, 11, and 12. But these are not, this is not Jesus Christ. It is an angel. His body also like Beryl in his faith as the appearance of lightning in his eyes as lamps of fire and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. So very similar to what you read in Revelation 1, 10, 11, along in there. And Daniel alone saw the vision. The man that were with him did not see it, just Daniel. For the man that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and remained. No strength in me for for my con, or conliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. The word corruption there can mean weakness. It was turned into weakness, because we might say he was weak as water. He just really couldn't move, could do very little. Later on, he couldn't even speak. He had heard I the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground, face down on the ground. And beholden hand touched me, and set me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, time after time in the book of Daniel, is a man greatly beloved. I hope God can say that of each one of us, a person greatly beloved. Understand the words that I speak unto you, and I stood upright, and for unto you am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said I unto you, then he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first time that you began to call for me, that you set your face to understand, and to hasten yourself, chasing yourself before the eternal, your words were heard. And I came for your words, because you cried out, I came. And oftentimes, we don't cry out, we don't pray as we should, we don't believe as we should, we don't have faith as we should. And as Daniel had faith, he has listed that he know in Ezekiel, it says those three men, Job and Daniel, and Noah were in it, they would save only their own lives. So this must be three of the most righteous men that ever lived, and Daniel was one of them. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 21 days.

Now the prince of Persia, that means that Satan has an organizational system. He has a system, and under the prince of Persia, there are demons. Demons have different ranks. Not all demons are as intelligent as other demons, and so, and not all the demons are as strong as other demons. So there is an organizational structure, and so this angel was withstood by Daniel, by the prince of Persia, and when he has spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. Now this word dumb, and unfortunately in the old days, and I remember as a boy, when a person was deaf, they would say, oh, he was, he's deaf and dumb. The admittance means he could not speak. It was an unfortunate wording of the condition of the person, and it made him less than human in a sense. But the deaf and the the hearing, and those who need hearing assistance that has come a long way, especially since the days of Helen Keller, and she helped develop the Braille alphabet and other facets of being able to speak and hear through Braille. Or they don't literally speak, but they can read lips, and they can use sign language to convey whatever their thoughts are. And behold, one like the similitude of the Son of Man, touch my lips. Now remember the Son of Man was referenced in Daniel chapter 3 when Shadrach, Shadrach, and Abednego were cast into fiery furnace, and whenever the canager looked in there, when the men looked in there, they saw one like the Son of Man walking in the fire as well. Jesus really used that term, the Son of Man, in referring to himself, especially in the Gospel of Luke. So one like the Son of Man said unto me that stood before me, O Lord, by division, by sorrows, are turned upon me, and I have returned, I have retained no strength. So Daniel was still weak as whatever he was standing up, but he was could not speak. For now can your servant of this Lord, of my Lord, talk with this my Lord. So he was able to talk. He had been strengthened to the point that he could talk. He was no longer unable to talk. For as for me straightway, there remain no strength in me, neither is their breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me, one like the appearance of a man this as an angel and strengthened me. So he had to be strengthened after he was given the initial vision. One old man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto you, be strong, yes, be strong. Another appellation is an admonition that is given to those through whom God is working to be strong. Don't just get discouraged. Don't let your guard down. Continue to fight the good fight of faith. Old man greatly beloved, fear not, peace unto you, be strong, yes, be strong. That was the admonition that Moses, that God told Moses to give to Joshua to lead them into the promised land. Don't be discouraged. Be strong. Be strong. Be strong. I think he repeated that four times in I think it's Exodus chapter one.

I was strengthened, maybe it's Deuteronomy, I'm not sure which book, and when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. Then said, he knows you that wherefore I come unto you, and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. So the fight wasn't over, but he was was able to free himself long enough to come and deliver the message to Daniel. And when I'm going forth low, the prince of Grisha, which is Alexander the Great, shall come. But I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth. Now God has a book, and he is keeping that book. And you can look up, if you'll Google, you wouldn't Google, you would use a Bible help to do it. But you look at a Bible aid or concordance, and you look up the book, and you'll be amazed at the times and cheers. And in Malachi it is used where it says, and those that feared the Lord spoke often to one another, and a book of remembrance was made. This is Malachi chapter 3, verse 16. Then David feared the Lord, spoke often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him, and for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. But thinking upon his name has strength within itself, and we should think on his name. All the various facets of his name and his various qualities and characteristics are conveyed by the names that are attributed to him, and you'll find many of those names, especially in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

But I will show you that which is noted in the Scripture of Truth. So the Scripture of Truth, God has the Scripture of Truth. Of course, he has revealed some of the Scripture to us. He hasn't revealed all of it, and we don't know for sure what he's writing in the book. In one place in the Gospels it says, you shall give and account for every idle word. Now, apparently upon conversion, repentance, and faith, and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, you no longer, that is no longer remembered, because it says as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us so that they are remembered no longer. We hope that is the case. The Scripture of Truth. And there is none that holds with me in these things, this angel speaking, but Michael, your prince. Michael is called the Prince of Israel. He's the one that delivers them when they're in a really tight situation. In this case, Michael helped this one coming to deliver this message to Daniel. Now we go to chapter 11. Also why in the first year of Darius the Mede, remember Darius the Mede conquered Babylon, he and his cohorts, and even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him. And now will I show you the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. You see, it seems like there should be no chapter break between chapters 10 and chapter 11 because this angel continues the prophecy. And that's why he could say that no one stands with me in this except your prince, Michael. That no one really knew this prophecy. Of course, God knew it. Christ knows it, knew it. The one who became Christ, the angel that brought it knew it, and Michael knew it. So there really there shouldn't be a chapter break. So let's read verse one again. And well, we go back, maybe if we read 10 again, it's more natural to read into this from 10 than it is to just pick it up in 11 because it is a continuation of what the angel has brought because he has not yet shown him what he has come to reveal to you. But I will show you this is the last chapter. This is the last verse in chapter 10. But I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth and none that holds with me in these things but Michael your prince. Now we go to we continue in chapter 11. It's a continuation of revealing to Daniel what is going to happen.

Also, I in the first year of Darius the Mede even asked to confirm and to strengthen him.

And now will I show you the truth. So far he had not shown him what was going to happen, especially in the latter days.

Behold there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia. The three kings in Persia. And what I'm going to do is read what E. W. Bullinger says with regard to these verses starting with this verse. The three kings are Cambysus, Pseudo-Smernas, and Darius-Histapes. Now I know that you're not it will be the rare person who remembers the names of these three kings. The names are Cambysus, Pseudo-Smernas, and Darius-Histapes.

Age of history books contain a lot about these men. We know from this verse that there were three after Cyrus, and a fourth was to come. He was to be succeeded by the mighty king, and that mighty king is Alexander. So we'll continue here. Behold three shall stand up, Cambysus, Pseudo-Smernas, and Darius-Histapes.

And the fourth shall be far richer than all these. Persia was known for its riches, and these kings were rich, but there was a fourth one coming who would be richer than all of them. So there was the great king was Alexander the Great. Now verse three.

And a mighty king shall stand up. And a mighty king. Now, Bullinger equates this with the little horn of Daniel chapter three. It is a type of the little horn. The little horn is the beast power of Revelation 17. A little horn.

Now continuing. So there shall stand up yet three kings of Persia. The fourth shall be richer than all. And by his strength through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Grisha. Now a king did, a Persian king, did come against Alexander the Great. It was a foolish thing that he'd done, that he did not done, to come against Alexander.

This is the little horn, or type of the little horn that's going to stand up. Notice this. That shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. Later on, we will see that the little horn does his will. He is called the willful king. And when he shall stand up, the kingdom shall be broken.

And there shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion, which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up even for others besides those. So the mighty king that stood up was Alexander the Great.

Not to his posterity, but to his generals, the kingdom was divided.

Now what we shall enter into here in this chapter, as I have mentioned earlier, probably some of it, you will not be that interested in. At least I'm not. But what the commentaries try to do is to try to make history fit the prophecy, and in some cases they fail to do this adequately. And so we'll just have to do the best we can as we go along with this, in trying to sort all of this out.

And in the end of years, they shall join themselves together, for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. Now suddenly, the king of the south, this king of the south is Ptolemy. The king of the south is Ptolemy. Once again, P-T-O-L-E-M-Y.

I think her name was Bernice. But she shall not retain the power of the arm, neither shall stand nor his arm, but shall be given up. And they brought her, and he that beget her, and he that strengthen her in these times. Yeah, her name, according to Bullinger, her name was Bernice, Ptolemy II's daughter. Now verse 7. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against him, and shall prevail. So for a time, the king of the south is able to rule over a branch of the Seleucid kingdom to the north, and this was Ptolemy III. Ptolemy III is the king referenced in verse 7. Now in verse 8. And shall carry captives into Egypt. So that shows, of course, that it is the king of the south who has won the victory, because Egypt is the nation where the king of the south resides, and shall also carry captives into Egypt, their gods with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, and he shall continue years than the king of the north.

So the king of the north that he defeated doesn't last nearly as long as he does. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and he shall return unto his own land. But his son shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, and one shall certainly come, and overflow and pass through. Then shall he return and be stirred up even to the fortress.

So this is entire see. Third, the second king of the north, his brother having died by a fall from his horse, stirred up and waged war.

But then tires the third was defeated by the king of the south, verse 11. The king of the south shall be moved with colder madness and anger, shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north, and tigers, and he shall shut forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given unto his hand. And this particular king of the north is, and tigers, the third. There are several anti-gresses. Verse 12, and when they had taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much richest. So, once again, entire is the third. After certain years, Bollinger said this was 14 years after his defeat at Rapha. You read about Rapha today with the war in between the last and the United States involved as much as Israel, and Rapha is that area of land between Egypt and Israel there in the Sinai.

Now Daniel 1 and verse 11. The king of the south shall be moved with color, I read that, and shall come forth and fight with him, and even with the king of the north, and tigers the third, and he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when he has taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall come to he shall cast down ten thousands, thousands, tens of thousands. You can hardly imagine that, to talk about the carnage and Gaza at the present time.

I guess that is the present approach in several tens of thousands as well. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army, and with much riches, which I have read. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south, also the robbers of your people. So the Jewish people are taking prey, and shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. Now in verse 15, so the king of the north shall come and cast up a mount, and take the most dense cities, and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. So the king of the north, and Tychus the third, and he is, and Tychus the greatest, another name given to him, and he parallels the little horn of Daniel chapter 8, which I've already mentioned. He is a type of the Antichrist that is to come and stand before him, and he shall stand before him, and he shall stand in the glorious land, and by his hand shall be consumed. This be consumed is the hymn that was consumed as Ptolemy. So the king of the south, Ptolemy the fifth, is eventually consumed by Antichrist the third. So as I told you, back in two, back in two, these kings Ptolemy 3, 4, and 5, the ward against Antichrist, and mainly the third, the third was the one that really came out the victor, and a type of what Bulliger calls the little horn. And he also shall set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones, and with him that shall he do, and he shall give him the daughter of women corrupted her, but she shall not stand on his side neither be for him. Now this Ptolemy the fifth, the daughter of women, Ptolemy the fifth offered, according to Bulliger and historical sources, offered Cleopatra his own daughter, then only 11 years of age.

The term denotes beauty. The daughter of women is a term that denotes beauty in the Old Testament.

Of course, there are movies been made about Anthony and Cleopatra, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra.

After this he shall turn his face under the aisles and shall take away many, but a prince for his own halves shall cause a reproach offered him to cease without his own reproach. He shall turn upon him.

One of his generals named Kacen, K-A-Z-I-N, turned upon him, and after this he shall turn his face into the aisles and take away many, but a prince of his own half shall cause a reproach offered to cease without his own reproach. He shall cause it to turn upon him, and then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall and not be found. There shall stand up in his estate a razor of taxes. The glory of the kingdom but within a few days he shall be destroyed neither in anger nor in battle. So something happened to this one all of a sudden, and he was destroyed. One of the commentators, Ginsberg, suggests that not with hands because it was poison. Here ends a historical portion which has been fulfilled. Then Bullinger writes, which was then in the future, begins with verse 21. Now in reading the commentaries, we find that the commentaries are all over the place. I will read you what one commentary says, and then we will pick it up in verse 21 next time. This is where it really gets interesting with regard to the future and the present.

This is in the pulpit commentary. Some of our ministers refer to the pulpit commentary, and it does have some good commentary from time to time.

Now what is described here in verses 22 and 23 and 24, this commentary says that this might refer to the expedition which Antigus undertook to Elamalis. But in the following verse, we learn the direction was toward Egypt. No such expedition occurred after the fourth expedition. What explanation is to be given of this, the explanation favored by Keel of the whole chapter that the king of the north is Antichrist, is applied here. Oh, so much of the earlier portion of this chapter can be interpreted as history. That we for our part are both to give an eschatological interpretation of this. The view favored by most of that here, the author narrated his expectations. But these expectations were contrary to facts. In Professor Bevin's view, whoever that is, or whomever that is, if this view had been correct, the expectations of the author would be falsified almost as soon as they were recorded. This would certainly seem to render it impossible for the book to get the vogue it did. Vogue means a showing.

For we for our part favor a modification of the view maintained by Hitzing, H-I-T-Z-I-G, Bitzig, that this section is a repetition of what has been previously mentioned.

So what these authors are saying is these people just repeated what had already been said and made this up. I don't believe that for a moment, because that tells you how far off commentators can be with regard to their commentary. Regarding what we do, this chapter has an interpolation of the work of a later hand. In other words, this commentary is saying that this was written by somebody else later on. And we talked about it in this at the beginning of our coverage of Daniel, how that son said that even the Expositor's Bible commentary says that this was the work of a later hand. And even the Bible commentary says that the legs and feet of the statue in Daniel 2 is that of Alexander instead of Rome. Again, this is the chronological statement as the beginning. Regarding as we do, this chapter has an interpolation of the work of a later hand or later hand. Our idea is that the section before us is one attempt to interpolate. When you interpolate, you go back and try to recount and put together certain areas and bring them forth. And this preceding section is another, and that both have been incorporated in the narrative. How dare the commentator to say such a thing about God's Word. So that's what you get when you rely on some of these sources. And I tried to... the most accurate one that I could find, perhaps... Now, there is a book written at the church, wrote way back years ago about this, Daniel 11. It's probably in the Herbert Armstrong Library, if you want to do additional research on it. Where Rawlings, he makes an attempt to cover this back in two between the King of the North and the King of the South, and the various Antiguses and the various Ptolemies. Coming down to the place where Ptolemy offered Bernice, that didn't work, and then he offered another daughter Cleopatra, according to one source. So we'll begin. We'll end here for this evening, and now we open it up for questions and comments by you.

The rest of the Book of Daniel is the post-interesting and insightful part of it. We have a question or comment, surely, from all of that rigmarole we go. We would have something.

Good evening, Dr. Ward. Hello, Paul. Hi. What's fascinating to me, a portion that's really eye-catching is the glimpse we get into the spiritual realm, and really the spiritual contest that goes on behind the scenes as God does His work, and Satan seems to try to resist that.

We live in this physical world, and there's a lot going on in this physical world that has spiritual backing. I think it's just interesting to catch that glimpse in Daniel, because it reminds us of that, and it reminded me as well in the Book of Jude, where I talked about Michael contending with the devil over the body of Moses. Again, who knows what's going on that we don't see, but we... it's kind of like the wind. You see the effect of it, and it spills out into the physical world, and there's moods and attitudes and all these things that are playing out, and you just kind of imagine the spirit realm behind the scenes doing work for God for the good, and then the opposition of Satan, his demons that come along and try to thwart and promote their schemes. Yeah, you know, in Paul Wright's ephesian 6, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spirit wickedness in high places. Yes, sir. So there is a... and it fascinated me that Satan has an organization, that the demons are organized to some degree by rank, and they have different powers and different assignments.

So the Prince of Persia was able... this demon, this Prince of Persia must be a powerful demon, because it withstood this angel for quite a long time, and then Michael came and helped him and freed him to come and reveal Daniel, really Daniel 11 and 12, because Daniel 10 is mainly a story about how Daniel perceived the visitor that came to him. Yeah. Of course, there was... there are other things which we mentioned along the way that need to be cleared up.

Thank you, Paul. Any other comment or question? Well, I noticed some of the apocryphal books bring out what Paul was talking about as well, and add a lot of detail and some insights on the spiritual goings-on behind the scenes.

Yeah, the apocryphal works, and I'm not saying they ought to be in the canon. I don't know for sure.

Some of it seems unbelievable to me. A part of the book of Jude... you know Jude is quoted in I mean Enoch is quoted in the book of Jude, so Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come with 10,000s of his saints. So Enoch is quoted... Enoch is one of the apocryphal books. There are 11 apocryphal books, and they appeared in the King James Bible between the Old and New Testaments, as I understand it. I don't have one of those books. They appeared until a certain date. I don't know what that date was. Maybe somebody can look that up and tell us next time. I'll also look it up, or plan to.

I plan to do so many things. I don't get everything done.

Anybody else have a question or comment?

Good evening, Dr. Ward. Real quick, once again, according to AI overview, the apocrypha was included in the original 1611 King James Bible and was removed in 1885. Okay, very good.

1885. Well over 100 years ago. 1525 was 140 years ago. And I don't know who removed it though. As I said, probably something, probably. It's difficult to imagine some of those, even with vivid imagination, rich imagination. It's hard to imagine some of that stuff in the, especially the book of Enoch. But Enoch is quoted in the New Testament. And some of the commentaries try to downplay that quotation and say, oh well, that was a flubby demo or something.

Anybody else?

Okay, we'll see you next time, two weeks from tonight, and we'll conclude Daniel next time.