The King of the North and the King of the South - Daniel's Final Prophetic Vision

Daniel 10-12 The Final Vision: King of the North and the King of the South

This is the longest and most detailed of the visions given to Daniel. It adds detail to previous visions but without the symbolism or riddle. The focus of the vision is the person who will rise up at the end time... a.k.a. the man of lawlessness, the anti-Christ, the beast.

The coming of this person is one of the key pieces of information Jesus gave His followers in answer to their question "what will be the sign of your return?" ... the one who invades Jerusalem and sets up the abomination of desolation.

Setting the Scene

Chapter 10 sets the scene and states or implies important insight into angelic beings and their respective interests in the people and nations which interact with the chosen people of God.

Daniel 10:1-3 - 536-535 BC. about the same time as the first group of exiles begin their return to rebuild the temple.

Daniel 10: 4-9 - seems to correspond to the vision of Christ glorified in Revelation 1:12-6. Notice that Daniel's reaction to this "man" is fear... a very different reaction than what he had when the angel Gabriel appeared before him. So, this appears to be the pre-incarnate Christ with an angelic entourage. Daniel 12:5 tells us there are 2 angels on either side of Him... one is probably Michael who is mentioned in 10:13. The other might be Gabriel who Daniel has already met.

Daniel 10:10-12 perhaps this reassuring hand is Gabriel, a familiar face Daniel already knew. Apparently Daniel had been praying for understanding again. Gabriel had said the same thing to him before 9:22-23. Perhaps this time he was praying about the exiles who were fulfilling prophecy by returning to Jerusalem…. concerned over the troubles they were facing [as recorded in Ezra]?

The Prince of Persia

Daniel 10:13 a fascinating verse that pulls back the veil on the forces of spiritual wickedness actively working within human government. This prince of Persia had been going toe-to-toe with Gabriel... so this no mere human being. Furthermore, he's called a prince like Michael.

1. angels are real 2) some are good some are bad 3) they influence human affairs 4) our world is subject to spiritual warfare in the seats of government and power - Ephesians 6:12.

Question: can demonic powers thwart God's will? Answer: God is supreme but He clearly grants humans and angelic beings limited power and free will to resist or rebel. Here God let's the angels battle it out just like He does with humans... but God is always in control.

During the centuries of Persian rule [539-331 BC] the Jewish people were allowed to return to Jerusalem... but they had lots of struggles, opposition and royal intrigue to contend with. The book of Esther, the book of Nehemiah, the book of Ezra detail the wicked, malicious, machinations behind the scenes in the Persian courts.

Daniel 10:14-11:1 after Persia will come the Greeks who bring far worse persecution which is the subject of the vision in chapter 11. Looking forward God wants them to know that the troubles ahead are coming... but to trust Him [have peace, be strong]. He's on the job and He's in control. He's even got the outcome He wants written down in a "book of truth".

Some of our battles are deeply personal... some play out on the national, or international stage... but For those who follow the Son of Man the answer is the same... trust God.

I Took My Stand to Support and Protect Him

Much happened in the first year of Darius: Babylon fell, Jeremiah's prophecy of 70 years of captivity was coming to an end. At the time of the vision the first exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua were on their way to rebuild the temple. Satan was not pleased.

This chain of events would lead to the coming of the Messiah and the freedom of men and women from bondage to sin. The adversary has more tricks up his sleeve and in the future he would work through the Greeks.

The Rise of the Greeks

Daniel 11:2-4 these two verses cover the fall of Persian empire to the Greeks. God throws in some interesting details to let us know just how much is already written down in that "book of truth".

Cyrus was ruling at the time after which three more kings would follow: Cambyses 530-522 BC. / Smerdis 522 BC. / Darius Hysapes 522-486 BC. Then a fourth Xerxes 486-465 BC. who kicks the hornets nest starting a conflict with Greece lasting over a century.

A mighty king arises from among the Greeks - Alexander the Great 336 BC. Alexander completely overtakes all of Persia then dies at the height of his power. The new Greek empire is divided among his four generals. This is all well documented history… but only two of those generals will concern Israel: the Ptolemys and the Selucids... the king of the south and the king of the north.

Israel will be sandwiched between these two kingdoms. [map]

Ongoing Conflict Between North and South

Daniel 11:5-20 this entire sequence covers the next 150 years from 323 BC. to 175 BC..

Question: why waste so much ink on these petty kings of the middle east? Why not talk about Julius Caesar or Siddhartha Gautama?

Answer: all bible prophecy revolves around Israel and Jerusalem. This revelation shows how Antiochus IV Epiphanes gains control of the Selucid throne... thus becoming master of the land... thus opening the door for him to subject Judea to persecution like they have never seen before. A persecution that is a symbol / type of end-time persecution according to Jesus Matthew 24:15-16.

These verses offer a detailed overview of the alliances, the wars, the intrigues between the Selucid king of the north, and the Ptolemaic king of the south. Rather than go through it line by line I have prepared a chart that lines up each verse with the historic event it points to.

Because this set of prophecies is so detailed and lines up with historic events so well... some conclude that it must therefore have been written after all these events occurred... they say about 165 BC.  someone writes all this stuff down after the fact and staples it onto the existing scroll of Daniel.

This theory popped up in the mid 1,800's [150 years ago]. Since then plenty of debate and scholarship has centered around the dating of the book of Daniel. Using linguistics and textual forensics believers have made a very sound case that the prophecy was written when it says it was.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Much attention is given to this man because he profoundly affects the chosen people. He persecutes them so harshly that they rise up under the Maccabees and for a brief shining moment establish and independent kingdom. The events of Antiochus' early rule are included in the chart I prepared for you Daniel11:21-28.

Daniel 11:29-30 Antiochus invades the king of the south [Egypt]. At this point a new player enters the field, the Romans and their navy. These are the “ships of the coast lands” who come to aid the Egyptians. They force a humiliated Antiochus to retreat. When he gets back home he takes out his anger an frustration on the people of the covenant, the Jews.

Daniel 1:31-35 this is the great persecution of the Jews that occurred in 167 BC. I covered the details of the the persecution in the message I did on Daniel 8. The abomination of desolation her is that which Jesus refers to in Matthew 24:15-16.

On penalty of death Antiochus  forbids circumcision, owning a bible, making sacrifice to YHWH, observance of the festivals. Some Jews are corrupted and go along with it... some resist and lead what ends up being called the Maccabean revolt.

A Prophecy For The Future

The events recorded from verse 36 through 45 do not correspond to any historic events. At this stage the prophecy moves into the far distant future... looking ahead to the end-times. Verse 40 confirms this transformation from Antiochus IV of history to the persecutor who appears at the end-time.

Daniel 11:36-39 this is that future king of whom Antiochus is a fore-telling… the Man of Lawlessness, the Anti-Christ, the Beast.

• he will speak great blasphemy 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13:5-6
• he respects only war and power Revelation 13:4, 16:13-16
• he is highly successful and generously rewards those who submit to him Revelation 18:9-19

The Final Battle

Daniel 11:40-45 the final battle comes to Israel [the beautiful land]. Through the power seeking of this king of the North vast armies will surround Jerusalem. This is the setting for the return of Christ in power and glory… an event marked by the feast of Trumpets.

Though the armies have gathered to fight one another, they will turn upon Christ when He appears. Other references: Joel 3:2-16, Zechariah 12:2-9, 14:1-21[Revelation 13-19].

Verse 45 [between the Mediterranean and Jerusalem] specifically they will set up camp and organize in Meggido a valley north of Jerusalem. From there they will move south and do battle in the valley of Jehoshaphat.

There he will come to his end - 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 19:20.

Troubles, Tests, Trials, and Persecutions

Imagine God told you: "In one year you are going to get a horrible form of cancer, you'll suffer, but I will save you and restore you". How would you respond when the cancer hit you?

Would it make the horror easier to process? ... Only if you trust God.

This is what YHWH was saying to Judah through Daniel who wrote these words down and distributed them among the people. This is what Jesus tells you. This is what His ministry told you before baptism. Troubles and trials are what lay ahead for everyone who follows Christ. We must all walk through the valley of the shadow of death... we must all learn trust God.

And if we trust God to save us... we should also trust Him to obey Him.

Daniel 12:1-4 Jesus refers to this phrase "time of great distress" in His long teaching on end-time prophecy in Matthew 24:21. I think in this way the Master draws special attention to this particular book of prophecy.

Perhaps calling us to consider that the resurrection… the moment we all look forward to... comes to pass at the same time as the greatest distress.

Daniel 12:5-7 the breaking of the holy people means there is trouble ahead for Israel, and there is trouble ahead for the Church, perhaps there is trouble ahead for you... however, in all this you can trust God.

Daniel 12:8-13 it is good for you to seek to know and understand prophecy... but your main objective is to be purified, made spotless, refined, moving forward toward your final inheritance.

For this we must trust Him to obey Him.