Daniel 11-12

Daniel Recap

Ch. 1

Daniel and His 3 Friends are Taken into Babylonian Exile

They Refuse to Be Defiled By the Culture They Find Themselves in

God Blesses Them and They are Promoted

Ch. 2

King Nebuchadnezzar Has a Dream and Only Daniel is Able to Interpret it Because of God

God Blesses Him, and He is Promoted

Ch. 3

King Nubchadnezzar Builds a Giant Statue to Promote Worship of Himself and the Babylonian Empire

Daniel’s 3 Friends Refuse to Worship the Image

God Blesses Them, and They are Promoted

Ch. 4

King Nebuchadnezzar Has Another Dream of His Humiliation and Restoration

Daniel Interprets it for Him, and Then it Comes to Pass

Ch. 5

Prince Belshazzar Throws a Drunken Feast to Incite the Gods to Protect Babylon from Persia

God Writes on the Wall and Daniel Interprets it

Persia Came and Took Over Babylon that Very Night

Ch. 6

Daniel is Promoted in Persia

His Peers Devise a Plan to Get Rid of Daniel By Having Him Thrown in the Lion’s Den

Their Plan Succeeds But God Blessed Daniel and He Survived

Ch. 7-8

Daniel Has Visions Concerning the Future

Ch. 9

Daniel Prays a Prayer of Confession and Supplication on Israel’s Behalf

The Angel Gabriel Informs Daniel that More Tribulations Will Come Before Redemption

Ch. 10

Pre-Incarnate Jesus Visits Daniel to Inform Him of What is to Come Concerning the People of Israel

Daniel 11

We Aren’t Going to Go into Much Detail in this Chapter

There are Around 130 Specific Predictions Made in the First 35 Verses

There is No Other Place in the Bible that Has So Many Precise Prophecies as This Chapter

It Covers 400 Years of Future Events From Daniel’s Perspective

The Chapter Begins By Passing Over 200 Years of Persian History

But Not Without Mentioning a 4th King, Xerxes I (Married Esther), Who Would Arise and Launch a Campaign Against Greece

He Would Be Defeated

Then in Verses 3-4, We Skip Forward to the Next Great World Leader, Alexander the Great of Greece

He Would Die Soon After Conquering Much of the Known World and His Kingdom Would Be Broken Up into 4 Parts

Most of This Vision/Message to Daniel is Concerned with 2 of Those 4 Kingdoms

The Seleucids in Syria = “The King of the North”

The Ptolemies in Egypt = “The King of the South”

Palestine was in the Middle of These 2 Kingdoms

They Would Begin Going Back and Forth With Treaties and in Battle With Each Other and Palestine Would Be Caught in the Crossfire

Israel Would Go Back and Forth Under the Power of Each of These Kingdoms

All of This Begins in Verse 7 and Ends in Verse 20

But Starting in Verse 21, a Despicable King Would Arise in the Kingdom of the North

Antiochus IV

We’ve Already Met Him Previously in the Book of Daniel (Little Horn of Chapter 8)

All Kings Before Him Respected Jewish Customs

But Not Him

He Began a Horrible Persecution Against the Jewish People

Verses 29-35 Describe How Antiochus was Confronted by the Romans in Egypt

He was Given an Ultimatum to Either Leave Egypt Right Away or Suffer the Wrath of Rome

He was “Disheartened” and “Enraged” (v.30), So He Went Up to Jerusalem and Began a Horrible Persecution Against Them

Verses 21-35 Go into Detail About His Whole Reign of Terror

Then Verses 36-45 are Possibly About the Roman Empire

We Obviously Could Go Into Much More Detail, But it Would Take Up Way Too Much Time

If You Are Interested in Learning More About One of the Most Amazingly Precise Prophecies in the Bible, Let Me Know and I’ll Give You Some Material

Daniel 12

So Daniel is Told All These Details About What Would Happen to His People in the Next 400 or So Years

It Wouldn’t Just Be Babylon that Would Persecute and Discipline God’s People…

There is Much More to Come

The Heavenly Messenger Continues…

Daniel 12:1 (NASB)

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.

The Arch Angel and Protector of Israel Will Arise During a Time of Unprecedented Distress to Rescue Those Written in the Book

This Time of Distress is Likely Referring to the Destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70

That is What Jesus is Referring to When He Says…

Matthew 24:21 (NASB)

“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”

But Daniel is Assured that His People Who Have Their Names Written in the Book Will Be Rescued

We Know that the Jewish System, Nation, and People Were All Decimated

But the Christians, On the Other Hand, All Escaped Before the Destruction

Daniel’s People Isn’t Limited to Faithful Jewish People

Christians are Considered His People Too

Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Daniel 12:2–3 (NASB)

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Here is One of the First Vivid Pictures of Resurrection

Scholars Disagree On What Type of Resurrection is Being Referred to

A Spiritual Resurrection Through Baptism into Christ

Or Physical Resurrection When Jesus Returns

Regardless of if the Resurrection Mentioned Here is Spiritual or Physical…

We Know From Many Other Scriptures that Those Who Experience a Spiritual Resurrection Will Also Experience the Physical Resurrection to Eternal Life When Jesus Returns

These are the People Who Walk in Wisdom and Lead Others to Righteousness as Well

But Those Who Don’t Experience the Spiritual Resurrection Will Still Experience a Physical Resurrection But to Disgrace and Everlasting Abhorrence

Daniel 12:4 (NASB)

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”

Daniel is Told to Seal Up the Book Until the End of Time (End of Time Could Refer to the Time of the Messiah or the Time When All the Predictions are Fulfilled)

Knowledge Will Increase When Daniel’s Book is Read in Light of the Events it Predicted

Daniel 12:5–7 (NASB)

Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.

And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?”

I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.

Daniel is Still On the Riverbank, Where the Vision of Jesus Started Back in Chapter 10

Now Daniel Sees 2 Angelic Beings on Both Sides of the River

They Ask Jesus, Who is Hovering Above the Waters, When the End of All These Things Mentioned Will Be

He Gave 2 Answers

1.) These Events Concerning the People of Israel Would Last for 3 1/2 Times (An Incomplete Amount of Time - It Won’t Last Forever)

2.) This Period of Time Would End After the Shattering of the Power of the Holy People (the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D.)

Daniel 12:8–12 (NASB)

As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?”

He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.

“Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.

“From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

“How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!

I Agree with Daniel’s Words Concerning the Whole Second Half of this Book

“As for me, I heard but could not understand.”

Daniel Wanted to Know More About the End of These Events

But Jesus Told Daniel to Live His Life and to Not Worry About Any More Revelation

“Many Will Be Purged, Purified, and Refined”

These are Those Who are in Christ

But There Will Always Be the Wicked Doing Wicked Things

As for the 1,290 Days and the 1,335 Days, It’s Hard to Find Any Satisfactory Answers

We Know it Has to Do With Destruction of Jerusalem (“the abomination of desolation”)

Whatever is Being Referred to, it was Likely to Be an Encourgement to Daniel and His Readers

Persecutions and Hard Times are Ahead of Them, But Those Days Will End and Blessings are Coming for God’s Faithful

Daniel 12:13 (NASB)

But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”

The Book of Daniel Ends With Daniel Being Given One Last Word of Comfort and Hope

“Daniel, Live Your Life. You Will One Day Enter into Rest in Death. And After That, You Will Be Resurrected and Given Your Inheritance.”

The Message Of The Book Of Daniel

The Major Theme of This Book is One That Can Be Found in Almost Every Chapter

God is Completely in Control of History, Empires, and Rulers

Everything That Happens in this World, Whether Wonderful or Terrible is By the Authority of God

And All of His Actions are for the Betterment of His People, Whether to Discipline or to Bless Them

All Empires and Kings Will Eventually Come to an End, Even Physical Israel

But Throughout this Book, Weve Seen a Promise of a Kingdom and a King that Will Never End

That Kingdom Began With a Very Small Group of People 2,000 Years Ago

The People of That Kingdom, Like Daniel, Find Ourselves Exiled in a Foreign Land With People Who Don’t Think, Talk, or Act Like We Do

Until Our King Returns, We are Left Here to Bear His Image and Lead Others to Him

And When He Does Return, Those of His People Who Have Already Died Will Be Resurrected, Never to Die Again

Evil, Sin, and Death Will All Be Destroyed

Righteousness and Life Will Never End

The Book of Daniel Began with a Young Teenager(?) Being Taken Captive in a Foreign Land

His Future was Uncertain and Scary

But God Blessed Him Because of His Amazing Faithfulness

He Learned That God is in Control of All World Affairs

And He Will Always Take Care of His Faithful People

We, Like Daniel, Can Rest Assured that God Will Always Do What is Best for His Faithful People