Sermon Tone Analysis

Wenstrom Bible Ministries

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Tuesday April 1, 2014

www.wenstrom.org

Daniel: Daniel 11:3-The Prophecy of Alexander the Great

Lesson # 320

Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:2.

Daniel 11:2 “Now, at this present time, I must reveal to you the truth.

Behold, three future kings will ascend to power for Persia.

Then, the fourth will cause greater riches to make him wealthier than each and every one of these in comparison.

However, when he amasses power through his wealth, the entire nation will stir up the Greek kingdom.”

(My translation)

This prophecy of these four Persian rulers was fulfilled in history, which records the first as being Cambyses, who was the son of Cyrus the Persian, who reigned from 530-522 B.C.

He was followed by Pseudo-Smerdis, who only reigned for a short period of time in 522 B.C.

Darius I Hystaspes who ruled from 522-486 B.C. followed Pseudo-Smerdis.

The fourth ruler was Xerxes, he was known in the book of Esther as Ahasuerus and he reigned over Persia from 485-465 B.C.

He was more powerful than his three predecessors and the most influential and wealthy of the four, thus fulfilling the prophecy found in Daniel 11:2.

During the reign of Xerxes, he fought wars against Greece which also served to fulfill this prophecy here in Daniel 11:2.

Daniel 11:3 “And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.”

(NASB95)

“And a mighty king will arise” indicates that this mighty king will ascend to power sometime after the reign of the four Persian kings.

“And he will rule with great authority” presents the result of the previous statement that a powerful king will ascend to power after the four Persian kings mentioned in verse 2.

The angel is predicting to Daniel that this powerful king will rule with great authority in the sense that his authority will be remarkable in magnitude, degree and effectiveness.

“And do as he pleases” is presenting the result of the previous statement that this powerful king will rule with great authority as a result of his being powerful.

Daniel 11:3 “Next, a powerful king will ascend to power so that he will rule with great authority with the result that he will do according to his desire.”

(My translation)

The unidentified angel continues to present to Daniel God’s prophetic program for the nation of Israel during the Times of the Gentiles and thus simultaneously during the seventy weeks or four hundred ninety prophetic years.

The angelic being informs Daniel that after the fourth Persian king amasses great power and his nation stirs up hostilities with the kingdom of Greece, a powerful king will ascend to power so that he will rule with great authority with the result that he will do according to his desire.

History records that this mighty king was none other than Alexander the Great who reigned from 336-323 B.C. before dying unexpectedly at the age of 32 from complications of malaria and alcoholism.

He conquered Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and the Medo-Persian Empire.

Not only is Alexander the Great prophesied about in Daniel 11:3 but he is also prophesied about in Daniel 8:5-8.

Daniel 8:5 Then, I myself was in a trance like state as behold a male-goat who is ruler over the female-goats, was traveling from the west over the earth’s surface.

In fact, it was not touching the earth’s surface.

Also, this male-goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes.

(My translation)

In Daniel 8:5, Daniel describes this male-goat as traveling from the west over the earth’s surface and was in fact not touching the ground.

This corresponds to the description of the third beast in chapter seven which is described as a leopard possessing four wings.

Both descriptions in Daniel 8:5 and Daniel 7:6 symbolize the speed beyond its capacity which Alexander’s army possessed in conquering the nations of the earth.

Daniel 8:5 says that this male-goat came from the west which means that in relation to Media-Persia, which resided in the east in relation to Israel, the kingdom of Greece led by Alexander was located west of Media-Persia.

The conspicuous horn of this male-goat which appears in Daniel 8:5 is a symbolic reference to Alexander the Great since he was the first ruler of the Greek Empire and not his father, Philip.

Though his father Philip II of Macedonia had united all the Greek city-states except Sparta, Alexander is considered Greece’s first king.

Alexander the Great began to rule in 336 B.C.

He defeated the Persians and conquered many nations while at the same time spreading Greek culture and language throughout these territories.

He attempted to follow the Babylonian example, but this led to gross immorality and early death in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three.

Daniel 8:6 Next, it traveled up to the ram possessing two horns which I saw standing in front of the canal.

In fact, it charged against it in a powerful rage.

(My translation)

Daniel 8:6 presents in symbolic terms Alexander the Great attacking the Medo-Persian Empire in a powerful rage, which refers to his righteous indignation against the latter and as a result seeking vindication.

Why was Alexander enraged at the Medo-Persian Empire?

He was enraged at the Medo-Persians because they were the hated enemy of his people.

The Persians sought to subjugate the Greek peoples.

For this reason, Alexander was in a great rage towards the Persians.

He sought vengeance because of the years of assaults waged by the Persians across the Aegean Sea against the Greek city states.

Decades before at the Battles of Marathon and Salamis, the Greeks had repelled the massive Persian army and navy.

Alexander wanted to conquer and subjugate the Persians to himself and the Greek people.

Daniel 8:7 Consequently, I saw it wage an attack opposing this ram while causing itself to become enraged against it.

Indeed, it repeatedly struck this ram so as to shatter its two horns.

Also, there was no ability in the ram to stand in front of it.

Then, it drove it to the ground as well as trampled on it repeatedly.

Indeed, to the detriment of the ram, there was none who could deliver from its power.

(My translation)

In Daniel 8:7, we have described for us in symbolic terms the Medo-Persian Empire being defeated militarily by the Greek Empire led by Alexander the Great.

This description makes clear that this was a decisive victory for Alexander the Great and empire.

This prophecy in Daniel 8:7 was fulfilled in May of 334 B.C. when Alexander the Great defeated the Persians in Asia Minor at Granicus.

In November 333 B.C. he defeated Darius III, king of Persia, in a battle at Issus in Phrygia.

In 331 B.C., he again defeated Darius but this time at Gaugamela near Nineveh.

Darius would escape to Ecbatana and then fled to Bactria.

However, his cousin, Bessus murdered him there.

Persia’s reign as a leading world power was finally brought to an end at Gaugamela near Nineveh in October 331 B.C.

This along with Darius’ death marked the end of the Persian Empire’s reign as a world power.

Daniel 8:8 So the male-goat who is the ruler over the goats was very great.

However, as soon as it became powerful, the unusual horn was broken.

Then, in its place, four conspicuous ones arose towards the heaven’s four winds.

(My translation)

In Daniel 8:8, Daniel informs the reader that in place of this conspicuous horn, four other conspicuous horns arose towards the heaven’s four winds.

These four conspicuous horns represented Alexander’s four generals who divided his empire after he died.

The four horns corresponds to the four heads on the third beast in Daniel’s vision in chapter seven.

So Daniel describes these four conspicuous horns as arising toward the heaven’s four winds, which describes in symbolic terms the parting and separation of Alexander’s empire toward the four corners of the globe.

Daniel 8:21 “Also, the male-goat, the shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece.

Correspondingly, the unusual horn which was between its eyes represents the first king.”

(My translation)

The elect angel Gabriel interprets the male-goat with the conspicuous, unusual horn between its eyes as representing the kingdom of Greece.

Therefore, this shaggy male goat corresponds to the third beast in Daniel’s vision in chapter seven, which also corresponds to the bronze belly and thighs of Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel chapter two.

As we noted in our study of the third beast in chapter seven, the leopard perfectly characterized the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great since this animal was noted for its speed and cunning in attacking its prey, which characterized Alexander the Great’s conquests that were without precedent in the ancient world.

The four wings on this leopard emphasizes a speed beyond its capacity, which characterized Alexander the Great’s lightening fast conquest of the civilized world from Macedonia to Africa and eastward to India.

The four heads depict the four-fold division of Alexander’s empire after his death between four of his generals (Daniel 8:8, 22).

The fact that governmental dominion was given to this kingdom indicates that it did not achieve its conquests by ordinary means but that it achieved its rapid success because of the God of Israel.

This would indicate that Alexander was truly a man of destiny and that God gave him his rapid success so that the world was at his feet by the age of 32.

In Daniel 8:21, Gabriel also informs Daniel that the unusual, conspicuous horn between the eyes of the shaggy male goat refers to the first king of the kingdom of Greece.

The Hebrew expresses the distinctiveness and uniqueness of this first king of Greece.

We must remember that when Daniel received this revelation from this unidentified angel during the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian in 536 B.C. Medo-Persia was still the leading super power in the world while Greece on the other hand was simply a coalition of city states who were not unified.

Yet, history confirms that these prophecies concerning Alexander the Great in Daniel 8:5-8, 21 as well as Daniel 11:3 were fulfilled.

Therefore, the fulfillment of this prophecy teaches us a principle that appears in the book of Jeremiah, namely, God is watching over His Word to execute it.

Jeremiah 1:12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”

(NASB95)

The fact that God can bring to pass that which He has predicted would happen with regards to Alexander the Great reveals that He is omnipotent and sovereign and omniscient.

Speaking in the context of judging Assyria the prophet Isaiah speaking for the Lord under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said the following:

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand.”

(NASB95)

Babylon and Assyria both learned this statement is true.