Peril and Glory

Introduction

We are back in Daniel 11 this morning.

Two weeks ago we saw Ancient Near Eastern history prophesied before it ever happened.

The Heavenly Messenger that Daniel met in chapter 10 revealed to Daniel the events that would take place from the fall of Persia, to the rise of Greece, to the division of Greece.

It was mainly focused on the conflict between two of the kingdoms that came from Alexander the Great’s divided empire—the Seleucids and the Ptolemies (or the Egyptians).

By the end of the first twenty verses we had gotten to about 175 BC—the year in which the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, would begin to reign.

Context and Text

This is the same Antiochus that we learned about in chapter 8.

He was the little horn which grew out of the goat, which represented Greece.

Daniel 8:9 ESV

Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land.

We learned about how Antiochus would persecute the Jewish people.

This morning we are getting more information about that time from Daniel’s prophecy, which he is still receiving from the Messianic Heavenly Messenger.

This morning we will wrap up Daniel 11 and cover a few verses in the beginning of Daniel 12

Let’s read the passage — these are the very words of God

Daniel 11:21–12:3 ESV

In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. Armies shall be utterly swept away before him and broken, even the prince of the covenant. And from the time that an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully, and he shall become strong with a small people. Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province, and he shall do what neither his fathers nor his fathers’ fathers have done, scattering among them plunder, spoil, and goods. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great army. And the king of the south shall wage war with an exceedingly great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for plots shall be devised against him. Even those who eat his food shall break him. His army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. And as for the two kings, their hearts shall be bent on doing evil. They shall speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. And he shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. And he shall work his will and return to his own land. “At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before. For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be afraid and withdraw, and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. “And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price. “At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him. “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Outline

This is a very dense passage of Scripture this morning. In light of that, I want to give you a bit of a roadmap for us.

A. Interpretative Approach

There are a couple of different ways of looking at this passage and I want to explain the approach we will take.

B. Walk Through the Verses

We are going to look at this passage in such a way where we do not miss the big picture.

C. Two Teaching Points

A. Though the times of suffering may be perilously dark, the promise of the future is gloriously bright.

B. Since the bright future is promised, stand firm and take action.

Interpretative Approach

There are two main ways of looking at this text.

Some look at it as an explanation of things that took place between 175 and 164 BC.

Others look at it as a mixture of explaining the past and speaking of events that will occur around the time of Christ’s 2nd coming.

While I find there to be compelling arguments for both approaches...

...And while there are good and godly people much smarter than me on each side...

...Ultimately it seems to me that the first approach is correct.

I believe that Daniel 11:21-12:3 are explaining the events of 175-164 BC to us.

And what that means is that this is a passage with a recapitulation or a “re-telling” and “repeating” of events.

We will see this morning that Daniel 11:21-35 are explaining Antiochus IV’s rise to power.

And then we are going to see that Daniel 11:36-12:3 are retelling the same events with some parts condensed and some parts expanded.

One of the main reasons I want us to approach it this way is that this sort of “retelling” and “repeating” approach is a common trademark of the apocalyptic genre in Scripture.

In fact, the book of Revelation is essentially 7 different angles of the same events.

It is like when you watch football and there are seven different angles of one play.

That is what Revelation gives us throughout its text.

Similarly, this morning we are getting a couple different angles of terrorizing inflicted by Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

So with that in mind, our explanation will be a little different today.

Instead of going verse by verse in order, we will look at the parallels between 11:21-34 and 11:35-12:3 and seek to understand the events they portray.

Walk Through the Verses (Daniel 11:21-12:3)

Daniel 11:21-24 and Daniel 11:36-39

We start with our first set of parallel verses: Daniel 11:21-24 and Daniel 11:36-39.

These two sets of verses are both going to be explaining the same events.

Verses 21 and 36-37

v. 21 and v. 36 both describe Antiochus IV coming to power.

He is a contemptible person who came to power after the death of Seleucus IV.

He was such a bad guy that some called him “Antiochus Epimanes,” which means “Antiochus the Madman.”

He smooth-talked his way to power after the death of his brother—obtaining the kingdom by flatteries.

v. 36-37 show us how self-exalting he was.

Antiochus “Epiphanes” literally means “Antiochus God Manifest.”

He lifted himself above every false pagan god and he blasphemed the one true God.

As v. 37 says, he did not even recognize the gods of his ancestors.

He replaced the Seleucid worship of Apollo with the worship of Zeus.

And he ignored Tammuz, a false god worshipped by Seleucid women.

He would be prosperous for as long as God allowed, which included the indignation he would pour on on the Jewish people.

Verses 22 and 38

Moving to verse 22 and verse 38, we learn more.

Antiochus was mighty.

Armies were swept away before him. (v. 22)

Antiochus was wealthy—wealthy enough to make expensive sacrifices to Zeus. (v. 38)

Zeus was often associated with protecting fortresses and mountain peaks, so v. 38 seems to be referring to him.

And as we will see throughout this passage, Antiochus wanted firm control of the region, including Judea.

When v. 22 says he swept away the “prince of the covenant,” this is likely referring to the Jewish High Priest.

When Antiochus began to reign, Onias III was the Jewish priestly ruler.

But Onias’ brother, a man named Jason, bribed Antiochus with loyalty and Antiochus removed Onias.

In 172 BC, another change was made because a man named Menelaus, who was not even of the priestly family, was given the High Priest role because he promised even more loyalty than Jason.

So the “prince of the covenant” who is swept away is likely Jason.

Verses 23-24 and 39

Verses 23-24 and verse 39 are the next parallel set of verses for us to look at.

These verses are describing how Antiochus IV will enter into agreements and extend his power.

As we have talked about, he made an alliance with Menelaus and a the small group of apostate Jews.

Apostate means someone who has rejected the truth and departed from the faith.

These were the type of people supporting Menelaus, who was a traitor to his people and had no right to be in the High Priestly role.

Verse 23 is referring to them.

Verse 24 describes how Antiochus would steal from the richest parts of Judea and take the spoils and scatter them amongst the apostates.

Verse 39 is explaining the same alliance with different language.

He will come against the strongest fortresses of Judea with supposed help of Zeus.

Based on what we learned about idols and demons in chapter 10, don’t doubt that Satanic forces were with Antiochus in his actions against God’s people.

Whoever joined the apostate Jews and bowed the knee to Antiochus would be promised a load of honor from him.

He would make them rulers over the land of Judea.

But as the end of verse 24 indicates, this initial wave of persecution among the Jews would only last for at time.

Like his fathers before him, Antiochus IV would turn his attention to Egypt.

Daniel 11:25-35 and Daniel 11:40-12:3

Daniel 11:25-27 and Daniel 11:40

Next we are going to look at verse 25-27 and see how they are paralleled by v. 40.

These verses are about the Seleucids and Ptolemies going at it again.

Stirred up in his heart against Ptolemy VI, Antiochus IV brings his power against Egypt. (v. 25)

And even though Ptolemy VI has this great army, he cannot stand up against Antiochus (v. 25).

Ptolemy VI suffered this defeat because his plans were leaked to Antiochus IV by his own people.

The very people who ate food from his table (v. 26) played a role in him being broken before the Seleucid ruler.

His army is swept away and many die.

And yet, in a strange turn of events, v. 27 shows us that these two evil kings—Antiochus IV and Ptolemy VI—actually come to the same table together in an unlikely alliance.

This is because there was another Ptolemy in play—Ptolemy VII. He ruled Alexandria in Egypt and Antiochus wanted Ptolemy VI’s help against HIS OWN SON, Ptolemy VII.

But it was to no avail.

Ptolemy VI reconciled with his son and they ruled Egypt together.

Verse 40 is describing the same events.

The decision to get involved with the Ptolemies again in 170 BC was the beginning of the end for Antiochus.

It would start a string of events that would lead to his death just six years later.

But you can see that v. 40 give us a different angle of the same battle.

Ptolemy tried to rise up against Antiochus, but his plans were leaked, so Antiochus rushed upon him like a whirlwind.

Daniel 11:28 and Daniel 11:41

Scrolling down to v. 28, it parallels v. 41.

Both verses are describing how Antiochus came against the Jews once more.

As he is coming into countries and overflowing a passing through like a conquering flood, he turned his attention back to Judea.

On his way back home from Egypt, he comes against the Jewish people because Jason—the high priest who was swept away—was attempting to lead an insurrection to overthrow Menelaus and the Apostates.

Antiochus sets his heart against “the holy covenant” or the Jewish people. (v. 28)

As verse 41 says, “He comes into the glorious land” and tens of thousands fall.

History tells us that in order to put down Jason’s insurrection, Antiochus killed 80,000 Jewish people.

The Heavenly Messenger tells Daniel that Edom, Moab and the Ammonites will escape such a fate.

These were the traditional enemies of God.

They are not facing the same suffering as God’s people are facing.

After slaughtering 80,000, Antiochus IV returns home to the north.

Daniel 11:29 and Daniel 11:42-43

But he would not stay there for long.

In 168 BC, he comes against the Ptolemies again.

This is what v. 29 speaks of as it says that he came into the South.

But in this instance, he would not have his day—it would not be his time.

As you can see in v. 42-43, initially he has success.

He stretches out his hand in conquest and Egypt will not escape. (v. 42).

He becomes the ruler of the treasuries of Egypt and the Libyans and Ethiopians fall in line with them, meaning he finds allies to the West and the South.

Daniel 11:30-31 and Daniel 11:44-45

But then things take a turn. There no allies to the East and the North. (v. 44)

In the North, there are angry Jewish people.

But in the East, there was a a much more formidable threat—Rome.

V. 30 tells us that ships from Kittim come against him.

This is the Roman military.

They come to tell the Seleucid king, “Enough with all this. Leave Egypt alone.”

When this happens, Antiochus IV has no choice but to turn and run away.

He couldn’t face Rome, who was growing in power everyday.

It was an embarrassment for him.

And so he became enraged and turned his anger on the weaker enemies to the North—the Jewish people.

He takes action against the holy covenant (v. 30).

He focuses on using his alliance with the apostate Jews to take over Jerusalem and make it thoroughly Greek.

He wants to eradicate all of Jewish religion.

So you see in v. 31 what he did:

He profanes the temple and fortress.

He takes away the regular burnt offering.

He sets up the abomination that makes desolate.

What’s being referred to here is the laws and restrictions and abominable actions that Antiochus took in Judea.

We learn from writings outside the Bible that Antiochus:

Took women and children as prisoners

Secured the Tower of David, which was a citadel overlooking the Temple—this is what is meant by the prophecy of him profaning the fortress in v. 31.

He made it illegal to read the Scriptures or practice circumcision or observe feasts and festivals

He put an end to sacrifices by making them illegal.

This is what v. 31 is talking about when it says he shall “take away the regular burnt offering”

And then, worst of all, on December 6th, 167 BC, Antiochus removed the temple altar and erected a pagan altar in its place.

This is what Jesus calls “the abomination that makes desolate” in Matthew 24.

Jesus saw what Antiochus did as a foreshadowing of what was to come in the destruction of the temple at the hands of Rome in 70 AD, and what would ultimately happen to the whole world when He returned on the clouds.

Verses 44 and 45 speak of the same things when it talks of Antiochus going out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.

Antiochus pitched his tents between the Mediterranean and The Temple Mount and he terrorized God’s people, with the help of apostates.

Before we look at our last handful of verses, it is worth stopping to remember Daniel 8 once again.

We are seeing that Antiochus is indeed that “little horn,” in Daniel 8:9.

He is the one described in Daniel 8:12-13

Daniel 8:12–13 ESV

And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”

And in an answer to Daniel 8:13, we can say that the trampling would not last forever.

Daniel 11:32-35 and Daniel 11:45-12:1

Verses 32-34 describe the heroic actions taken by God’s faithful people.

While Antiochus is able to seduce the apostate Jews with flattery (v. 32), there are others who will stand firm and take action.

These Jews reminiscent of Daniel and his three friends.

They are not in Babylon, but Babylon has come to them and they are not going along with it.

This Jewish resistance was called the “Maccabean Revolt.”

The wise among the people will teach the others that they must stand firm and take actions as well (v. 33).

Some of these great Jewish heroes would stumble—meaning they would die.

They would meet their death by sword and flame (v. 33).

v. 34 describes how some Jews would join themselves to the rebellion against Antiochus for the wrong reasons.

It would be out of some sort of self-interest, which shows how hard it was to discern who was loyal during this time.

But v. 35 says that this will be a time of refining.

In the end, this time of Jewish persecution would be like a threshing floor where the wheat is separated from the chaff.

And there was great reward in store for those who would stand strong.

First of all, the reward came in victory on earth.

On December 14th, 164 BC, the Jews would recapture control of Jerusalem and gain independence.

Jewish people still celebrate this today with Hanukkah.

Part of the reason that the Jews were able to win the war was because Antiochus died in battle in the region of Persia, in the midst of the Maccabean Revolt.

This is referred to in 11:45 when the Messenger says Antiochus would come to his end.

This weakened the Seleucid Empire greatly.

But this victory wasn’t just about what was happening in the physical.

Daniel 12:1 shows us that there was a spiritual battle taking place behind the Maccabean effort:

Daniel 12:1 ESV

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

The faithful Jews, who looked forward in faith to the Messiah to come, and whose names are found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, written before the foundation of the world, would be delivered.

And this is because of spiritual help and power.

At the end of chapter 10, the Divine Messenger says that after doing battle with the demonic Prince of Persia, he and Michael, the Archangel, would battle the Prince of Greece.

So once more, God’s people experience victory on earth because of victory in the heavenly realms.

Daniel 11:45 says that Antiochus shall come to his end with none to help him.

Daniel 11:35 and Daniel 12:2-3

Finally, our last parallel is found in v. 35 and verses 2 and 3 of Chapter 12.

The punishing presence of Antiochus was unlike anything the Jewish people had ever experienced.

He was a little horn with zero mercy.

And yet many of God’s people stood strong.

And their reward would not just be the physical independence of their nation.

Verse 2 explains that some who sleep in the dust will awake—or resurrect—to everlasting life and some would awake to shame and everlasting contempt.

This is one of the clearest supports for the doctrine of resurrection in the Old Testament.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul explains that Jesus’ resurrection was a sort of firstfruits of the resurrection to come.

All who have been united to Christ by faith will be united to Him in resurrection. They will be raised as He was raised:

1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

We will be raised and given a glorious resurrection body, in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not just true of New Testament Christians, but Old Testament believers who looked forward in faith to the Messiah who is to come.

So then, the Jewish people who proved their faith by standing firm and taking action will awake to everlasting life.

But for the Apostate Jews, who followed Antiochus, or the Jews who joined the rebellion under selfish, false pretenses, they would not.

They will awake to everlasting contempt—like anyone who rejects God’s promises that are ultimately fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Revelation 20:13–14 ESV

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

The wise who led the Jewish people to faithfulness will shine like the brightness of the sky above in glory.

The apostate Jews will experience eternal darkness.

The faithful Jews, who turned many to righteousness, will be Abraham’s children, twinkling in glory like stars forever.

The unfaithful will endure the shame and contempt of everlasting punishment with no light.

The faithful Jews, as v. 35 says, will be purified and made white until the time of the end—the Day that the dead are raised.

But the unfaithful Jews will blow away like chaff, suffering the same end as the pagan king they bowed the knee to.

Two Teaching Points

So understanding this text and these events, let us finish this morning with two brief teaching points.

In the first one, I want to show you that this morning’s passage communicates to us the same order that we see in the rest of Scripture:

A. Though the times of suffering may be perilously dark, the promise of the future is gloriously bright.

As 12:1 says, these were times of trouble that the nation of Israel had never seen before.

It was worse than Egypt and the Exodus. It was worse than Babylon and the Exile.

The evil of Antiochus even surpassed that of Pharaoh and Babylon’s pagan rulers.

But as we saw in this passage, the darkness and the suffering and the misery would not last forever.

It would have its end.

And on the other side, for God’s people, there was deliverance and glory.

This is the pattern of life that the Scriptures give to us.

First of all, it is the pattern of Jesus’ life.

Before Christ would resurrect and ascend as the Man of heaven, He was the Man of Sorrows enduring the shame of His Cross on behalf of His people.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Before He received the name above every name, He was subjected to the suffering that comes with living under the very sun He created.

For Christ, it was cross before crown.

Suffering before glory.

Death before deliverance.

And since it was this way for our Master, we should not think it would be any different with us.

And so we see this all over the New Testament.

Let me point out three places:

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

There is glory coming, but there is suffering first.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

There is glory coming, but there is affliction first.

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

There is eternal glory in Christ, but first there is a little while of suffering.

This is the pattern of a life lived for God.

Suffering and affliction comes first, and then the weight of eternal glory.

Troubles in this world, before heavenly bliss in the next world.

But here is something else that is to be taken note of in all of these verses:

The time of affliction, hard as it may be, is minimized, when compared with the glory to come.

Paul says that it isn’t even worth your time to compare it. (Romans 8:18)

It is like someone saying, let’s compare a Ford Focus with a Lamborghini.

You would say— “Let’s not. What’s the point?”

That is how much the glory to come outweighs the pain of the present.

Paul says don’t even both holding them up to each other. The glory far exceeds the suffering.

Paul says it again in 2 Corinthians 4.

Think about all the suffering this man endured.

All the beatings, all the imprisonment, the thorn in his flesh, his anxiety for his churches...

And he says, “This is light, momentary affliction.”

He says that the glory coming is beyond all comparison.

It is the same point of Romans 8:18—don’t even bother with the comparison.

Heaven’s glory is like a million bars of gold on one side of a scale and the suffering is like a pebble on the other side.

Our suffering may be great, but that means heaven is that much greater, if Paul can speak of these things in this way.

And then Peter’s words do the same.

This suffering that we may feel goes on forever in this life, it just a “little while.”

Compared with an eternity of pleasure in Christ, this is a blip.

This is brief black screen before the immensely glorious movie of heaven begins to play forever and ever.

So then take heart.

What you feel is unbearable is not forever.

The persecuting powers of this world...

The diseases of our bodies...

The depression of our minds...

The hard circumstances in our finances...

They are going to come and go like the dew on the grass in the morning.

But heaven will not.

Eternity with God will stretch on and on and on and it will be so great that you cannot even compare it to what we face in the here and now.

This brings me to our final point this morning...

B. Since the bright future is promised, stand firm and take action.

Sometimes our suffering or even the prospect of suffering can paralyze us.

We feel afraid to obey the Lord in boldness because we fear the results.

We feel afraid to obey the Lord in faithfulness because we think that the pain of the moment has rendered us useless.

But like the faithful Jews who stood up to Antiochus and the Apostates, we can stand firm and take action.

We can serve our church.

We can pray fervently.

We can share our faith.

We can go on mission trips.

We can be generous with our money.

We can hold the cultural line.

We can be outspoken for Christ.

Living like this may draw the ire of Satan and this world, but do not fear.

Whatever suffering your obedience may bring to your door, the glory awaiting you at the door of heaven outweighs it.

Whatever pain the world promises you if you continue to stand for Christ and act for Christ, is nothing compared the glory the Lord has promised you forever.

So do not shrink back, but stand up.

Do not back down, but stand firm.

And do not drop your hands, but take action.

Read your Bibles, listen to the Spirit of God and do what He says.

With the glory that is promised, we need not fear the Antiochus’ around us.

Yet they shall come to their end.

But you Christian, will shine like the brightness of the sky above. Like stars forever and over.

Hold on and be faithful.

It is but for a little while now.