| Subject: Dan Chap 11 vss 1-4 Post 56 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:02:45 01/20/11 Thu
Chapter 11
Daniel 11:1-4 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and 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 beside those.
Continuing the narrative from chapter 10 we have further proof that the destiny of nations is not completely in the hands of it's people. Here we notice in verse 1 that Darius has the backing of God. In verse 1 the heavenly visitor (whom I take to be the second person of the Trinity, the pre-incarnate Christ) is confirming and strengthening King Darius in his kingdom. Remember now the words of God in Daniel 4:16-17: "Let his (Nebuchadnezzar's) heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. "The Basest of Men". Our thinking normally is that God would only raise up and protect kings such as David, Asa or Hezekiah. Nebuchadnezzar ruled at the pleasure of God in heaven and he was far from good.. Even when Satan's man sits on a throne in the world it is by God's will that he is allowed to reign.
The fourth king mentioned or the king that is far richer than the other three is Xerxes, son of Darius Hystaspes. His great wealth enabled him to build a great and well equipped army with which he invaded Grecia but could not conquer it. This may have set the stage for the animosity between Greece and Persia that set the stage for the conquest of Persia by Alexander.
It is hard for us to understand sometimes that God may use evil people to accomplish His will. Realizing that we cannot know the mind of God. Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
In this mix we also find Romans 8:28 at work: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." This is the goodness of God working through bad happenings and evil people. The bad nations, peoples and events work for the good of God's people. It did in the Old Testament and it does in the New. When Hitler killed 6,000,000 Jews how many knew this would be the impetus for the migration thousands of Jews back to the land God promised to them through Abraham.
When Satan accused God of putting a hedge around Job it was God's righteousness that assented to the test of Job by the most evil creature ever allowed to live. Satan challenged God to take the hedge down and he would show God that Job would curse Him. Job 1:10-12 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. As we know God removed the hedge and Job did not curse God but maintained his integrity. Satan came again and said: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." (Job 2:4 ) Satan is always probing and pushing to find weakness and he accuses us before God of our unrighteousness and unfaithfulness. Satan in essence says: "You have punished me for my transgressions so you must punish others." This is an accusation of favoritism being a respecter of person which of course God forbids in His people so naturally God must be impartial also. Job 34:23 The result of Job's trials is found in the statement by him concerning his sore trials: "When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10) Be it nation or individual one that sticks with God through sore trials comes forth as gold. Out of the trials and tribulations of an oppressor came forth the United States of America. Who could have known the hand of God would have been with her so in those darkest hours of the Revolution.
"For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God." (Job 34:23) This is why God assented to Satan when he asked permission to touch Job in his flesh which he had been forbidden to do up to this time. Satan's demand is: "But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. 7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown." (Job 2:5-7)
What are being shown a glimpse of in these verses is the spiritual warfare that goes on between God and Satan for the souls of men? I believe this is also a microcosm as to the claims on nations that Satan lays at God's feet. When Satan tempted Jesus one of the things he promised Jesus was that if he would bow to him he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said "for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. ". (Luke 4:6) Satan has been trying to claim every kingdom and nation for himself to deprive Jesus of them. Guess what!! He gonna lose!
When God tells Daniel that He has been fighting with the prince of Persia we can understand the nature of that war. God tells Daniel that He is returning to continue the fight and we see that in the passage we are studying that there are yet three more kings to stand in Persia. He will be the 4th from Darius who is at that time on the throne. In the last chapter we saw that God had told him after he had fought with the prince of Persia that the prince of Grecia would come. Now look again in verse 2 where we are told this 4th King will stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
The mighty king of verse 3 will be Alexander the Great who conquered the Persian Empire. We are told in verse 3 that this mighty king will stand up and do according to his will. Nothing stopped Alexander the Great until he had conquered the known world at that time. It is said that when he had finished his conquests he cried for there were no more nations left to conquer. Alexander the Great is said to have died of Syphilis in Babylon. He was only 33 years old. There is a mystery about this man that is only shown in bits and pieces. Both he and his mother claimed that King Phillip of Macedonia was not his real father but the god Zeus was. This takes us back to Genesis chapter 6 with the sons of God fathering children by the daughters of men. (Gen. 6:2:4) Evidently God is not the only heavenly being to have a son on earth. Satan is a great imitator and he will try to imitate the history of God and His Son at every opportunity.
In verse 4 we are told that when the king of Grecia stands up his kingdom is to be divided to "the four winds of heaven" which probably is to the four compass points which is exactly what happened. Alexander the Great's kingdom was divided among his four generals and their kingdoms then covered the 4 points of the compass.
In the Bible you will find no greater detailed prophecy than found here in chapter 11 of the book of Daniel. Almost every detail can be shown to have come to pass before the birth of Christ but we also see a dual application prophecy. The 2n application will pertain to events from the death of Christ until his Advent. In Chapter 10 we found the time period in which the prophecy was aimed. Daniel 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
Keep in mind then as we read and meditate on chapter 11 the prophecies came to pass in the Old Testament. They also have a future fulfillment in "the latter days". This chapter 11 then is going to be past history as well as prophecy. All was future to Daniel's day so we can with assurance say this is nothing for our ominicient God: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: "
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