The history of mankind itself is a story of one war after another. Every generation has senseless loss of life and spends a great deal of its capital on war.

Chapter 11 is the beginning of the vision that made Daniel mourn in chapter 10. The key to understanding this vision is given to us in Daniel 10:14 (NKJV): "Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come."

• It concerns Israel.
• It extends to the “latter days”.

1. The Conflicts of the Past, verses 1-35
2. The Conflicts of the Future, verses 36-45

Daniel 11:1-35 (NKJV)
¹ "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him. ²And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. ³Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. ⁴And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.

⁵ "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. ⁶And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. ⁷But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. ⁸And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.
⁹"Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. ¹⁰However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
¹¹"And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. ¹²When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. ¹³For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.
¹⁴"Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. ¹⁵So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. ¹⁶But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
¹⁷"He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him. ¹⁸After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. ¹⁹Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
²⁰"There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle. ²¹And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue. ²²With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. ²³And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. ²⁴He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
²⁵"He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him. ²⁶Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. ²⁷Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. ²⁸While 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.

²⁹ "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. ³⁰For 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. ³¹And 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. ³²Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. ³³And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. ³⁴Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. ³⁵And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

This chapter more than any other in Daniel has caused critics of prophecy to scoff. We call them “liberal” but I think we need to come up with a different name. They are anything but broadminded. In fact, they are narrow-minded, prejudiced, and biased.

The reason for their scoffing is that in these 35 verses there are 135 prophecies that have already been fulfilled. Their reasoning goes something like this: “Since the events described here actually happened, we know that they must have been written after the fact. For if they were written ahead of time, then that would be a miracle and since we know that there is no such thing as a miracle, then they must have been written later.”

The dating of Daniel’s writings in the 4th and 5th century B.C. can be sustained by conservative scholarship and cannot be refuted by any credible evidence. What we have here is prophecy. What we have here is a miracle. Deal with it!

Some point to the fact that other people have made predictions that have come true. Such people as Nostrodamus and Jean Dixon. For any such person you are compelled by the facts to say that “some” of their predictions have come true. Their failures are not published or minimized.

Why is that important? Because the Bible says that a true prophet is right 100% of the time, never wrong. (Deut. 18:20-22, NKJV) In fact, if one prophecy turned out to be wrong, that prophet was killed by stoning.

This first section of chapter 11 has three main divisions:

1. Verses 1-4 provide the general background for what is to follow
2. Verses 5-20 focus on two nations: Egypt and Syria
3. Verses 21-35 focus on a Syrian ruler to whom we were first introduced in chapter 8.

Daniel 11:1-2 (NKJV)
¹ "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him. ²And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.

Daniel 11:3-4 (NKJV)
³Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. ⁴And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.

History tells us that when Xerxes tried to conquer Greece that he was defeated and that Greece, under Alexander the Great (reigning 331-323 BC), conquered not only Persia but the then known world in four short years. Alexander died at the age of 33, but none of his heirs inherited the throne. It was divided into four parts with each part being ruled by one of his generals.

Verses 5-20 give detailed prophecies concerning two of these four divisions of the Grecian empire, Egypt (the kingdom of the South) and Syria (the kingdom of the North). These prophecies chronicle 150-200 years of warfare between these two kingdoms.

Why does God focus on just these two divisions of the Grecian empire? The main reason is because only these two kingdoms affected Israel. For 200 years, as these kingdoms fight each other, Israel is in between getting hammered.

These prophecies also give the historical background for the ruler that is prophesied to give Israel a very hard time during the 400 years between the Old and New Testament. God includes so much detail in these verses that you have to believe that another reason is to build trust in His prophecies. Fulfillment of these in the immediate future would be strong evidence to trust what He says about the distant future.

From our perspective, fulfilled prophecy gives you a handle for your future:  “We have also a more sure word of prophecy…” (2 Peter 1:19, KJV).

The fact that we now know that these prophecies regarding Egypt and Syria were fulfilled is strong evidence that what has said will happen in the latter days will also be fulfilled.

A lot of space is given, verses 21-35, to prophecies about a ruler that would come from the Syrian division of the Grecian empire. Biblical scholars agree that these prophecies were fulfilled in the second century B.C. by Antiochus IV, better known as Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

We are given amazing details about this Syrian ruler, but let’s just highlight a few:

1. He is a “vile person” but comes to power peaceably by intrigue (v. 21)
2. He persecutes the Jewish people (vs. 28, 29 - “do damage”)
3. He attempts to abolish the Jewish religion and desecrates the Temple so that no one will worship there any more making it “desolate because of his abomination.”

Illustration:

Don’t be like the man who was fascinated by barometers. So he saved his money until he could buy one of the best. He opened it and admired its beauty but thought it was faulty because it seemed to be stuck on “Hurricane." He wrote a letter of complaint and went to the post office to mail the letter. While he was away a hurricane struck and he lost not only his barometer but his home as well.

II. CONFLICTS OF THE FUTURE

Daniel 11: 36-45 (NKJV)
³⁶"Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. ³⁷He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. ³⁸But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. ³⁹Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.

⁴⁰ "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. ⁴¹He 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. ⁴²He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. ⁴⁴But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. ⁴⁵And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
(AMP) | (NIV) | (NLT) | (KJV) | (NASB)

The events described in these verses are future events that are continued in chapter 12. They take place in the worst time in human history, which the book of Revelation calls the "Great Tribulation." After these events, there will be a time of resurrection and judgment.

This time of Israel’s history corresponds to the 70th week of the prophecy in chapter 9. The first 3 ½ years will be rather peaceful; but then all hell breaks loose on the earth. The warfare and resulting carnage will be like man has never been seen before.

The world ruler that brings about this period of human history is a puppet of Satan called the Antichrist. Verses 36 & 37 prophecies that he will exalt himself above all gods: ”He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women." He will reject both Jehovah (Judaism) and Jesus (Christianity).

Verses 40-45 prophesy world events that will lead to what Revelation calls the "Battle of Armageddon." In these verses we see nations from Africa, Asia, and Europe mobilizing to do war against the Antichrist with the battlefield being Israel. The Antichrist defeats the first nations that challenge him but, in doing so, inspires what would be a World War that threatens destruction of the planet.

As the Antichrist begins to descend upon Israel for this final great war, he is met and wiped out by a returning Jesus Christ.

Illustration:

There was a cathedral in the Swiss Alps that had a magnificent organ. For years the valley was serenaded by the its beautiful music. Over time the organ deteriorated and was unable to produce the music it had before. Person after person was called to tried to repair the organ with no success until the consensus was that it could not be fixed. One day an older man came to the cathedral and asked if he could try to fix the organ. After working on it for three days the people of the valley were shocked and pleased to once again hear the organ’s beautiful music. “Why could you do what no one else could do?” they asked. “50 years ago, I built this organ. As its creator, I’m the only one that can fix it!”

But, this morning, there is a war going on inside you as well.
Who will win that war?

If you do not know Jesus Christ, Satan is trying to get you to ignore or not believe the evidence that God is trustworthy and His word is true. If nothing else, he is trying to get you to put off making a decision until another day.

Don’t ignore the warnings. Don’t reject the evidence.
Place your trust in God through Jesus Christ this morning.
Repent of your sins and decide to live for Christ.
He will forgive your sins and give you the gift of eternal life.
He will set you free from the guilt and bondage of sin.
Surrender to Him and win!