| Subject: Dan Chap 11 vss 7-19 Post 58 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 14:31:04 03/13/11 Sun
Daniel 11:7-19 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 them, and shall prevail: 8 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 more years than the king of the north. 9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. 10 But his sons 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 his fortress. 11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. 12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. 13 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. 14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. 15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. 16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
Verse 7 is referring back to "the king's daughter of the south" whom we have identified as Bernice, daughter of Ptolemy. The statement is that "out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate". Her roots were in Ptolemy so a branch of her roots would refer to a brother. She had a brother named Ptolemy Euergetes who succeeded her father as king. He, angered at the treatment of his sister Bernice marched on Syria with a massive army and punished greatly those who had so treated his sister. In returning to Egypt he carried into captivity many of the princes of Syria and an abundance of gold and silver.
Verses 10 and 11 speak of the retaliation from the sons of the king of the north (Seleucus Callinicus at this time). The players in these accounts of the battles which spanned many years and several kings can become quite confusing if very careful attention is not given to the details. In verse 10 you would naturally assume that the phrase "But his sons" would refer to the sons of the king of the south. This won't work because of what follows in verse 11 as the king of the south is stirred at the multitude coming against him so the sons of verse 10 has to refer to the sons of the king of the north who had suffered defeat at the hands of the king of the south. The first son of the king of the north was Seleucus Ceraunus and his younger brother was named Antiochus Magnus. These two sons of the king of the north assembled armies to march on Egypt because of the defeat they had suffered. Seleucus was weak as a military man and was ill equipped to raise and lead an army. He reigned for 3 years and was poisoned by two of his generals. It was then that Antiochus Magnus, his younger brother, took the army and regained what had been lost years earlier. Coming now to verse 11 we have a change of kings in the south. Euergetes has died and in his place the king of the south is now Ptolemy Philopater
is the king of the south. The king of the north (Antiochus) raises and army of 62,000 foot soldiers, 6,000 calvary and 102 Elephant mounted soldiers. Philopater's army was greater and as a result he defeated Antiochus by killing 13,000 of the norther army and taking 4,000 captives. Philopater lost approximately 2,100 of his army. Thus was the multitude of the king of the north given into the had of the king of the south fulfilling the prophecy.
In verse 12 it is recorded that the heart of the king of the south was lifted up (I assume with pride) over the victory and it is recorded that as a result he stopped at Jerusalem on his way back to Egypt to offer sacrifice and tried to enter the temple at Jerusalem. Upon trying to enter it is said that he was "struck with terror and confusion of mind" and had to carried away. Because of this experience he blamed the Jews and upon his return to Egypt he tried to get revenge on the Jews. During and insurrection in Egypt (circa 213 B.C.) he slew 40,000 Jews in Alexandria thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would "cast down many ten thousands". This act turned many of his own countrymen against him so he was not strengthened by the murder of the Jews.
Coming now to verse 13 we see the results of the loss of strength from Philopater's actions against the Jews. The king of the north,who is still at this time Antiochus Magnus, has gone back licking his wounds but began rebuilding his army. He not only rebuilds but builds back with and even greater army than the first with which he was defeated. "After certain years" becomes 14 years. During this time period Philopater dies and the kingdom goes to his young son who is around 4 to 5 years old at the time of his father's death. This boy king is named Ptolemy Epiphanes. "With much riches" is a reference to the great wealth Antiochus accumulates through successful campaigns against Persia and India. This gained him not only wealth to raise his army but also greater support against his coming campaign against Egypt.
Moving on to verse 14 we see written "And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south:". The "many" would be a reference to the army of Philip of Macedonia whom Antiochus made league with. They were to conquer and divide the kingdom of Egypt. Also at this time there was insurrection in Egypt over the doings of the "prime minister" who was overseeing the affairs of the kingdom until the young king could come of age.
The "robbers of thy people" who "exalt themselves to establish the vision;" is most likely a reference to Rome which sent on Scopas to lead then Egyptians against Antiochus' army. Scopas had success at the first but was finally defeated. The reference to establishing the vision would possibly be the prophecies early in Daniel showing that the fourth kingdom/beast had to be Rome. While Rome would finally have control over all of Israel and in 70 A.D. destroy Jerusalem (robbing the Jewish people) at this time their efforts would fail. Probably the main reason that Rome became involved in this conflict was due to their accepting "guardianship" of the young king Epiphanes of Egypt until he could mature enough to rule Egypt. This in itself shows the growing influence of Rome in the region.
In verse 15 we have reference to the utter victory of Antiochus over the Egyptians led by Scopas. Land, including Palestine and much of Syrian which Scopas had initially taken in battle was retaken by Antiochus. Scopas retreated to Sidon which Antiochus immediately lay siege against and the end result was the complete surrender of Scopas army. He surrender on humiliating terms of which he and his remaining men of approximately 10,000 were allowed to leave but were stripped naked to return in dishonor. Thus was fulfilled the word which said "neither shall there be any strength to withstand." At this time Antiochus Magnus was supreme in the land.
Verse 16 brings us on down to 70-60 B.C. The king of the north is now Antiochus Asiaticus and the one who "shall do according to his own will," is the Roman General Pompey. Rome was not about to take defeat at the hands of the king of the north. When Rome gained enough strength to retaliate she lashed out with a power and vengeance unmatched by any other army or nation. None could stand before Pompey. The "dreadful and terrible" beast of Daniel 7:7 was raising it's ugly head.
As we enter into this section of scripture we will more and more be in areas of dual prophecy which pertained to the history of the time but also pertain to the coming anti-Christ of the tribulation. "None shall stand before him" just as none shall stand before the anti-Christ. "He shall stand in the glorious land" just as Israel and Jerusalem will be the seat of the anti-Christ in the last days. Jerusalem and Judea became a province of Rome in 63 B.C. as Pompey defeated all who withstood him. From 63 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy in verse 16: "and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed." Fast forward to the tribulation and you can see the final fulfillment of this prophecy on Israel with it's total destruction at the hands of the "beast" in the Book of Revelation.
In verse 17 we change leaders again as the Roman general now becomes none other than Julius Caesar. With the entire power of Rome behind him Julius Caesar now begins to consolidate all of the area which Alexander the Great had conquered. Julius is now determined to conquer the only portion left of the 4 divisions of Alexander's kingdom which was Egypt. Julius "set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom". He will not be satisfied until he has it all.
Ptolemy the 12th and Cleopatra were co-rulers in Egypt but a dispute between them led to factions which weakened the abilities of Egypt to resist as Julius Caesar entered into the picture with his army. Achilles came out against the Roman army with 20,000 but was repelled. He then attempted to destroy the Romans ships and as a result Caesar set the Egyptian fleet afire. Some of the burning ships drifted close enough to catch piers afire. The flames from these in turn engulfed nearby buildings and much of Alexandria was caught up in the flames. One of the buildings burned with it's contents was the great Alexandrian library which was said to contain nearly 400,000 volumes. Thus was lost much of the collected history of that time and earlier times.
Caesar brought in reinforcements and the battle was won. Ptolemy attempted to escape but drowned in trying to cross the Nile in his flight. Cleopatra was allowed to remain as ruler (subject to Rome of course) and thus began one of the enduring romance stories of all time. Egypt, as a province of Rome ruled by Cleopatra, brought her and Caesar together. Julius Caesar had a son by her out of wedlock "corrupting her".
As too often happens passions subside and die out. This evidently was the case with Caesar and Cleopatra. Having had all she wanted of Caesar she joined herself to Mark Antony the enemy of Caesar and exerted all her power against Rome.
Although all the Alexandrian kingdoms were conquered Julius Caesar was not satisfied and turned his face toward all the Mediterranean coasts that had not been subjugated with his usual success. Because of his successful conquests and the vast increases brought to the Roman Empire Julius was offered the title and authority of king. Rome at the time was a republic and Julius felt to accept the offer would bring reproach to the republic. This is the reproach of verse 18. One Brutus was behind the offer and when Julius rejected the offer it was offered to him but he also did not want it.
The result and end of the matter is found in verse 19 where we read "Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found." Julius Caesar, having finished his conquests returned to "the fort of his own land" where evidently upon further persuasion accepted the offer of being king. When he came into the Senate and sat upon the throne Brutus, Cassius and others fell upon him and stabbed him numerous times until it caused him to "stumble and fall" as he stood and tried to get away from his attackers. The bible then adds "and not found". Julius had given up the ghost and while his body may have still been there his life could not be found.
This brings us to 44 B.C. and just a short distance ahead in the future the Messiah will show up.
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