The Time Gap Between Daniel 11.35 and 11.36
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 25, 2014
Daniel: The Time Gap Between Daniel 11:35 and 11:36
Lesson # 353
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 11:36.
Daniel 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. 40 At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.” (NASB95)
Just as there was a time gap between Daniel 9:26 and 27 so there is a time gap between Daniel 11:35 and 36.
Just as the prophecies recorded in Daniel 9:24-26 were literally fulfilled in history so the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:2-35 have all been literally fulfilled in history.
Just as the prophecies recorded in Daniel 9:27 have not been fulfilled in history and await future fulfillment so the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-45 have not been fulfilled in history but await future fulfillment.
The prophecies in Daniel 11:36-45 will be literally fulfilled in the future during the final three and a half years of the seventieth week.
There are no commentators even liberal ones who see Daniel 11:36-45 as literally fulfilled in history.
Even those scholars who have the conviction that Daniel is a second century B.C. production and that it contains no prophecy but only history, acknowledge that Daniel 11:36-45 has not been fulfilled in history.
There are some, both liberal and conservative who argue that Antiochus Epiphanes IV fulfilled some of the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-39 but none believe that this king literally fulfilled them.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25 and the book of Revelation both indicate that the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-45 await future fulfillment during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
What the angel tells Daniel in Daniel 11:36-12:3 makes clear that this is the case since Jesus described these final three and a half years as “the great tribulation” and the angel describes it as the worst period of adversity that the Jews have ever seen in their history.
Thus, the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3 await future fulfillment during these last three and a half years.
Joseph August Seiss writing in 1879 introduces his exposition of Daniel 11:36-45 by quoting Martin Luther who writes “This prophecy applies entirely, as all expositors unanimously agree, to the Antichrist, whose spirit is of the pope, but whose body is another, who corporeally oppresses, destroys and persecutes the congregation of the Lord.”
Pentecost writes “All the events described thus far in chapter 11 are past. The intricate details of the conflicts between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies were fulfilled literally, exactly as Daniel had predicted. So detailed are the facts that skeptics have denied that the book was written by Daniel in the sixth century b.c. They conclude that the book must have been written during the time of the Maccabees (168–134 b.c.) after the events took place. However, the God who knows the end from the beginning, was able to reveal details of forthcoming history to Daniel. In verses 36–45 a leader is described who is introduced simply as ‘the king.’ Some suggest that this is Antiochus IV Epiphanes and that the verses describe additional incursions of his into Israel. However, the details given in these verses were not fulfilled by Antiochus. True, Antiochus was a foreshadowing of a king who will come (cf. comments on 8:25). But the two are not the same. One is past and the other is future. The coming king (the little “horn” of 7:8 and “the ruler” of 9:26) will be the final ruler in the Roman world. His rise to prominence by satanic power is described in Revelation 13:1–8 where he is called a ‘beast.’ According to John (Rev. 17:12–13), he will gain authority not by military conquest but by the consent of the 10 kings who will submit to him. Starting with Daniel 11:36 the prophecy moves from the ‘near’ to the ‘far.’ The events recorded in verses 36–45 will occur during the final seven years of the 70 sevens (9:24).”
Just as there are some scholars who believe that there is no time gap between Daniel 9:26-27 so there are some who think there is no time gap between Daniel 11:35-36.
In fact, there are many who do not believe that there are any time gaps in the Bible which is emphatically not the case.
However, it is clear from Scripture that the prophetic postponement of the seventieth week and Daniel 11:36-12:3 are in agreement with many passages in the Old Testament which reveal the two advents of Christ.
There is clearly a time gap and postponement in the fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to the second advent of Christ.
The revelation of a prophetic postponement in the fulfillment of the eschatological aspect of the messianic program is in harmony with numerous passages in the Old Testament that reveal the two advents of Christ (e.g.. Gen. 49:10-12; Deut. 18:16; 2 Samuel 7:13-16; Isa. 9:1-7; 11:1-2, 11; 52:13-59:17-21; 61:1-11, cf. Lk. 4:16-19; cf. 7:22; Zeph. 2:13-3:20; Zech. 9:9-10; Joel 2:28; cf. Acts 2:17; Mic. 5:2-15; Psalm 2:7-8, cf. Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; Psalm 22:1-32; Psalm 34:14, 16; Mal. 3:1-3; 4:5-6; 53:10a, 11).
Jeremiah's prophecy of restoration (Jer. 30-33), like the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. 40-66) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 33-48) included predictions of both immediate (post-exilic) restoration and future (eschatological) restoration.
The post-exilic prophets understood this distinction, realizing that though they were enjoying a restoration under EzraZerubbabel, the complete nationalspiritual restoration had been delayed for the future.
This is seen, for example, in one of the signal events of restoration - the rebuilding of the Temple (Hag. 2:3-9).
Perhaps the most well-known example of a time gap in prophecy is Jesus Christ’s reading of Isaiah 61:1-2 as recorded in Luke 4:16-30.
Notice that when Jesus read the prophecies about Himself in Isaiah 61, he stopped at the beginning of verse 2.
Why? For the simple reason that in verse 1 He was announcing the reasons for His first coming whereas verse 2 speaks of the Tribulation period, which is mentioned by the Hebrew prophets as “the day of wrath” and “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” and by Jeremiah as “a day of vengeance” (46:10).
The purpose of His first advent was to announce the period of grace and salvation we are living in, not the time of judgment that is yet to come during the seventieth week.
“The king” mentioned by the angel in Daniel 11:36 is the Antichrist who will be from the final stage of the Roman Empire and will reign during the seventieth week.
He is not Antiochus Epiphanes IV.
Those who believe that this king in Daniel 11:36 is a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes IV argue that by stopping the sacrifices and offering a pagan sacrifice Antiochus fulfilled the prophecy in Daniel 11:36 that this king will magnify himself above every god and speak monstrous things against the god of gods.
Some argue that when Antiochus gave himself the title “God Manifest” he was fulfilled this prophecy in Daniel 11:36.
However, Antiochus did not set up an image of himself to be worshipped or demand the world worship him as will be the case with Antichrist according to Revelation 13.
Antiochus simply set up an image of Zeus.
The prophecy in Daniel 11:37 that “he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers” was not fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV since his policy was to compel the Jews to worship the god of his fathers or be executed.
The prophecy in Daniel 11:38 that “he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know” was not fulfilled by Antiochus since he was devoted to the god of his country Zeus who was the god of his fathers.
Furthermore, the king mentioned in Daniel 11:36 is clearly distinguished from the king of the north who is mentioned in Daniel 11:40 and we know from history that Antiochus Epiphanes IV in Daniel 11:21-35 is the despicable king of the north.
Those who do not distinguish between Israel and the church and rule out a literal, earthly Davidic Messianic Kingdom at Christ’s Second Advent have no satisfactory place for the realization of the ultimate thrust of Daniel’s prophecies and this is true of the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3.
However, adherents to dispensationalism which strictly hold to the literal method of interpreting prophecy recognize a distinction between God’s program for the church and His program for Israel.
Thus, dispensationalists view the fulfillment of the seventieth week is yet future and the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:36-12:3 as yet future as well.
They also view a prophetic postponement between the prophecies recorded in Daniel 11:2-35 and Daniel 11:36-12:3 or in other words they view a time gap between Daniel 11:35-36.