A brief exposition of Daniel 11 with an emphasis on its ultimate last days fulfillmentJoel Richardson

I. Stepping back to recognize the big picture: Revelation 12-13, 17

A. Introducing the primary characters in the conflict:

1. The Woman2. The Man-Child3. The Dragon4. The Beast

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. —Revelation 12:1-3

B. Interpretation:

1. The Woman = Zion, Jerusalem, True Israel (Ezekiel 16; Isaiah 66)2. The Child = Jesus the Messiah (Isaiah 66:7)3. The Dragon = Satan (Job 26:12; Psalm 74:14; 89:10; Isaiah 27:1; 51:9)4. The Seven Headed Beast from the Sea: Satan’s Seven Pan-Historical, Pan-Biblical

Pagan Empires

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name... The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" —Revelation 13:1-4

"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. "The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. —Revelation 17:9-11

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C. Identifying the seven Satanic, pagan, persecuting empires (Revelation 13, 17):

1. Egypt2. Assyria3. Babylon4. Medo-Persia5. Greece6. Rome7. Islamic Caliphate

8. While these are not the only evil empires of World history, they are the primary empires which persecuted Israel while she dwelt in her land. Many will ask why Nazi Germany is not included in this list. The Nazis may be seen as the ultimate fulfillment of the judgments that would come upon Israel while she was fully in exile, while no nation existed.

II. Daniel 11 Chapter Outline

A. 11:3: The transition from the historical Medo-Persian Empire (11:2) to the Alexandrian Greek Empire

B. 11:4: The death of Alexander in 323 B.C. and the division of his empire among his generals (11:4).

C. 11:5-19: The great measure of intrigue, conflicts and battles that took place throughout Alexander’s former dominion between the Seleucid Dynasty in the North and the Ptolemaic Dynasty in the South for roughly the next 150 years.

D. 11:20-35: Overview of the career of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the eighth King of the Seleucid North with equally strong foreshadows of Antichrist.

E. This view concerning the dual-fulfillment of vv. 20-35 is the view of Jerome, (who claims it was the most widely held view of the Churches of his time).

F. 11:36-39: Shift from Antiochus to Antichrist and his beliefs.

G. 11:40-45: The final conflicts, career and end of the Antichrist.

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H. Map of the Alexandrian Greek Empire:

G. After the Wars of the Diadochi: 322 to 275 BC, the Empire was primarily divided up between:

1. The Seleucid Dynasty in the North

a. Modern Nations:b. Turkeyc. Syriad. Lebanone. Israelf. Jordang. Iraqh. Irani. Afghanistanj. Pakistank. Turkmenistanl. Uzbekistan

2. The Ptolemaic in the South

a. Modern Nationsb. Egyptc. Libyad. North Sudan

H. Map of the Seleucid & Ptolemaic Dynasties (275 B.C.)

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I. Antiochus IV Epiphanes as a type / pattern of the Antichrist

1. Antiochus / Antichrist:

2. "While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land. For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. —Daniel 11:28-31

3. In determining of if this is referring to Antiochus IV Epihpanes or Antichrist, it is essential to recognize that Jesus (Matthew 24:15-22), referred to this, and the other Abomination of Desolations verses in Daniel (Daniel 8:11-12?; 9:27; 11;31; 12:11) and placed them in the future.

4. The Antichrist

5. "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. "He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. "He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Cush shall follow at his heels. "But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to

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his end, and no one will help him. —Daniel 11:40-45

J. Coming consolidated Antichristic empire?

K. The Turkish Islamic Union:

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L. Hizb ut-Tahrir Vision:

L. Two-Kings or Three-Kings?

1. Debate has swirled for roughly the past one hundred (plus) years regarding whether there are two or three kings in Daniel 40-45.

a. Two Kings: (1) King of the North & (2) King of the Southb. Three Kings: (1) Willful King / Antichtist, (2) King of the North, (3) King of the

South

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2. Arguments for the three king Interpretation:

a. Consistent interpretation of pronouns in vv. 36-43:

b. At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Cush shall follow at his heels. —Daniel 11:40-43

c. If the two king interpretation is true, then the Antichrist is an end times leader from a neo-Seleucid (Middle Eastern) Kingdom, which conflicts with the popular (Roman / Euro-centric) interpretations of Daniel 2 (Metallic statue), Daniel 7 (Four Beasts) and Daniel 9:26 (People of the Prince to Come).

d. Thus the three king view is primarily rooted in an arguably false presupposition (European Antichrist) brought to the passage.

e. Supporters of the three king interpretation:

1) Adolph Saphir2) Sir Robert Anderson3) H.A. Ironside4) Arno Gaebelein5) M.R. DeHaan6) H.C. Leupold7) Wm M. Smith8) John Walvoord9) Robert Culver10) John C. Whitcomb11) Leon Wood12) Harry Bultema13) Rodney Stortz14) J. Dwight Pentecost15) Renald E. Showers16) Iain M. Duguid17) Hal Lindsey18) Timothy Lahaye19) Mark Hitchcock20) Ed Hindson21) Arnold Fruchtenbaum22) Ron Rhodes23) Charles R. Swindoll24) John Macarthur

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25) Beth Moore

3. Arguments for the two king and against the three king interpretation:

a. Violate the flow and break the pattern of the entire passage.

b. Turns the types of enemies (King of North and South) into allies against a common enemy.

c. Turns Antiochus into both a type of the Antichrist and a type of the Antichrist’s greatest enemy.

d. Passage only emphasizes and goes into some detail concerning the invasion and defeat of the South (Egypt), but not the North.

e. The invader comes from the North (Which is consistent with several other eschatological, arguably antichristic prophecies. e.g., Joel 2:1-27; Isa 10:12; 30:31-33; 31:8-9; Ezekiel 38,39)

f. Because this view minimizes Antiochus as a type of the Antichrist, it also forces a rejection of the clear correlation between the little horn of Daniel 8 and the little horn of Daniel 7.

g. It conflicts with the universal interpretation of the early Church.

h. Despite the claims of those who argue for three-kings, the grammar of the passage does not require this view (cf., C.F. Keil’s comments &, J. Paul Tanner’s comments in JETS 35/3, Sept, 1992).

4. Survey of interpreters holding to the two-king interpretation.

1) Hippolytus of Rome (170–235), one of the most important theologians of the second and third centuries. According to tradition, Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, a disciple of John the Apostle who wrote extensively about the end times.

2) Victorinus (d. 333), an early Christian bishop and martyr. His commentary on the book of Revelation is the oldest complete commentary on Revelation in our possession.

3) Lactantius (240–320), a well-known early Christian apologist in the third and fourth centuries.

4) Ephrem the Syrian (306–373), an early Syriac deacon hymn-writer and theologians of the 4th century.

5) John Chrystostom (347—407), the highly influential Greek archbishop of Constantinople.

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6) Jerome (347–420), the renowned Latin theologian and historian of the fourth and fifth centuries.

7) Theodoret of Cyrrhus (393–457), the highly influential author, theologian and bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria, in the fifth century.

8) Sir Isaac Newton (1642—1727), the renowned English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian.

9) John Gill (1697–1771), an English Baptist pastor, biblical scholar well known for his John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible (1748).

10)John Wesley (1703–1791), the well known Anglican cleric, theologian and preacher who founded along with his brother Charles Wesley, the Methodist movement.

11)Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (1871), the three co-authors of the Bible Commentary by the same name.

12) S.P. Tregelles (1813–1875), an English biblical scholar, textual critic and theologian. Tregelles is most well-known for translating Wilhelm Gesenius’ famous Hebrew Chaldee lexicon into English.

13) C.F. Keil (1813–1890), the celebrated German Hebraist and commentator who co-authored a commentary on the Old Testament with Frederick Delitzsch.

14) John Nelson Darby (1800 – 1882), an Anglo-Irish evangelist, influential figure among the Plymouth Brethren, the father of modern Dispensationalism.

15) J.E.H. Thompson, (1918), the author of the Pulpit Commentary

16) Clarence Larkin (1850–1924), an American Baptist pastor, Bible teacher and author of the classic work on dispensational eschatology, “Dispensational Truth.”

17) William L. Pettingill, (1886-1950), a leading Bible teacher of his day and Dean of the Philadelphia School of the Bible, which he co-founded with C.I. Scofield.

18) Arthur W. Pink (1886–1952), an English evangelist and biblical scholar well-known for his book “The Antichrist.”

19) G.H. Lang (1874–1958), one of the foremost dispensational premillennialist biblical scholars of his day.

20) F.F. Bruce (1910–1990), another biblical scholar of the highest calibre who needs no introduction.

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21) Charles L. Feinberg (1909—1995), an American Messianic Jewish dispensationalist scholar.

22) Arthur Petrie, (1960), Director of Studies, Seattle Bible College, minister and author of several books including the Message of Daniel (1947).

23) Edward J. Young, (1907–1968), former professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary.

24) Philip R. Newell, (1962) Bible scholar, author, Moody Bible Institute, author of Daniel, The Man Greatly Beloved and His Prophecies.

25) Geoffrey R. King, (1966), a British Bible teacher and author of Daniel: A Detailed Explanation of the Book.

26) Desmond Ford (1929—), an Australian Bible scholar and prolific author.

27) Robert D. Van Kampen (1938–1999), a businessman and the author of The Sign.

28) Gleason L. Archer Jr. (1916–2004), another well-known and deeply respected biblical scholar and theologian, known as one of the chief proponents of the doctrine of biblical inerrancy.

29) James Montgomery Boice, (1938–2000), a reformed pastor, Bible teacher, host of “The Bible Study Hour” radio broadcast and the author of Daniel, An Expositional Commentary.

30) Joyce G. Baldwin, the Anglican former principal of Trinity College in Bristol, England, and author of Tyndale’s “Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary”.

31) William H. Shea, a Seventh Day Adventist, former professor of Old Testament, at Adventist Theological Seminary and Andrews University.

32) Steven R. Miller, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Mid-America

Baptist Theological Seminary, author of the New American Commentary on the Book of Daniel.

33) Jacques B. Doukhan, Algerian born, Seventh Day Adventist scholar of Hebrew and Old Testament, and author of Daniel: The Vision of the End and Secrets of Daniel.

34) John Goldingay, professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, author of the Word Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel.

35) David Guzik, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, director of Enduring Word Ministries, author of Guzik’s Commentary on the Bible (who takes a “could be” position).

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36) Andrew E. Hill, professor of Old Testament studies at Wheaton College and the contributing author of the latest Expositors Bible Commentary on Daniel.

III. Ultimate Implications for Last Days / Future

A. A coming neo-Seleucid Kingdom & neo-Ptolemaic Kingdom

B. A coming military conflict between these two regional powers.

C. A coming invasion of Israel by the future “King of the North”.

D. The fulfillment of Isaiah 19 and the conquering of Egypt:

1. “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian--brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing.” —Isaiah 19:2-3

2. “‘I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them’, declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” —Isaiah 19:4

3. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. —Isaiah 19:22

4. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." —Isaiah 19:25

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