Main Idea: Even the greatest of God’s opponents will meet their end.
A Look at the Text:
Today’s text continues to detail things to come during the intertestamental period.
Speaking to the king of Persia, Daniel explained that there would be three further kings in Persia (Dan. 11:2) but then a mighty king from Greece, Alexander the Great, would arise and rule (Dan. 11:3). However, his kingdom would then be divided amongst his four generals shortly after his sudden passing (Dan. 11:4).
These things had already been shown to Daniel with the four-headed leopard (Dan. 7:6) and the goat whose great horn was broken and replaced with four horns (Dan. 8:8).
The vision then follows the kings of the north, the Seleucids, and the kings of the south, the Ptolemies, two of the four pieces of Alexander’s empire (Dan. 11:5-20). Following this, we are again introduced to Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11:21-35), the Seleucid ruler represented by the little horn of Daniel 8.
His profaning of the temple is foretold (Dan. 11:31), as is the removal of the burnt offering, and the abomination that he would set up in the temple (Dan. 11:32). Yet throughout this time there was the assurance that the end was yet awaited (Dan. 11:27,35).
To this, it is revealed that there will be another king.
Following in the pattern of Antiochus, he would exalt himself and speak against the God of gods (Dan. 11:36). Yet, at the time of the end (Dan. 11:40), he would most certainly come to an end (Dan. 11:45).
Bringing it Home:
Before Antiochus Epiphanes even existed, Daniel and the people of God were assured of his end. Those who knew their God, the Maccabees and the Jews who followed them, would stand firm and take action against him (Dan. 11:32).
Yet, Daniel’s vision looked not only to that which preceded the end, but the end itself. In verse 36, a shift is noted by many. As one scholar has observed:
The description merges into a portrayal of the Antichrist, whose hostility to God and His people was foreshadowed in the career of Antiochus.[1]
The abomination set up by Antiochus wasn’t the final opposition to God. Much later in the Bible, in Revelation, we are introduced to the beast and the false prophet who, together with the Dragon, make up what some have helpfully termed the “unholy trinity.”
Whereas Daniel’s vision foretold of the coming end of Antiochus, Revelation introduces us to the lake of fire, the eternal home of the enemies of God (Rev. 19:20; 20:10).
While various aspects of biblical prophecy can be difficult to understand, let us know today that a time is coming when every enemy of God will be defeated. Some may take their stand against the living God, the God of gods, but their time of defiance will be temporary.
In contrast to this, those who know their God will stand and take action (Dan. 11:32). No matter what trial may come, the worst that the enemies of God can do to the people of God is deliver us into the presence of Jesus.
With that knowledge, we can take heart, no matter what comes, no matter who takes their stand against God, He will bring us into His presence, and His enemies will be finally defeated.
Challenge:
In present distress, do I fix my eyes on my future hope?
[1] Robert B. Chisholm, “The Major Prophets,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 338.