Chapter Twelve

The chart above can be very confusing unless the relevant historical details are filled in. Taking Daniel 11 verse by verse is a sure way of seeing how genealogy records correlate with prophecy.

Daniel ll:2:"And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia."

The verse above relates to the first four kings of the Persian empire... Cyrus(539 - 530 B.C.), Cambyses (530 - 522 B.C.), Darius I (522 - 486 B.C.) and Xerxes (486 - 465 B.C.). Verse two says that the fourth king shall be far richer and have greater strength than his predecessors and Xerxes was far richer and more powerful than the first three kings of the Persian Empire. Looking at the writings of Alexander the Great shows that his justification for the invasion of Persia was the attack on Greece by Xerxes who attempted to take Athens. There were six other emperors after Xerxes, the last being Darius III (335 -331 B.C.), who was conquered by Alexander the Great. None of these emperors were as rich or as powerful as Xerxes.

Daniel ll:3: "And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will."

This verse refers to Alexander the Great seen in earlier chapters of Daniel as being represented by the great horn of the he-goat. Alexander defeated Darius the Mede and his Persian army at the battle of Issus 334 B.C.. In this verse Alexander the Great is prophesied to have great dominion. The previous chapter taught about the true powers that rule over this world so that means that he had a very strong and powerful demonic power ruling over his kingdom. Alexander died in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-two. Some suspect he was poisoned or perhaps even drank himself to death. When he finished his conquests he sat down and cried because there were no more lands to conquer. When asked to whom he bequeathed his empire, tradition says that he said: " To the strongest ".

Daniel ll:4: "And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those."

When Alexander died, his kingdom was not given to his posterity, but was given to his four generals.. Ptolemy I Soter, Seleucus I Nicator, Lysimachus, and Cassander. Another general by the name of Antigenis attempted to install on the throne two kings, Philip III Arrhidaeus, Alexander's mentally retarded half brother, and Alexander IV, Alexander's posthumous son by Roxanne, but he was not successful. These four generals will not rule in his dominion or inherit his demonic power for when Alexander the Great died his demonic power went into the abyss. The rule of these four generals are symbolized all through the book of Daniel starting with the belly and thighs of brass in Daniel 2, and the four heads of the leopard in Daniel 7, and the four horns of the goat in Daniel 8.

Daniel ll:5: "And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion."

This verse tells us about Antigenis' defeat of Seleucus I Nicator as Antigenis attempts to put first the brother, then the son of Alexander the Great on the throne. Seleucus retreats to the Ptolemy kingdom of Egypt, where he becomes a prince. He is then given a great army, and returns and defeats Antigenis. Seleucus sets up his own kingdom, which takes in the southeastern part of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and some of the southern area of Russia, and on into India. This kingdom will be larger than all the other general's kingdoms, and the most powerful. Descendants of Seleucus I Nicator will increase his holdings to include Israel and beyond to the Red Sea, bordering Egypt.

Daniel ll:6 through 9: "And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. But out of a branch of the roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail: And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land."

These verses speak of the king's daughter from the south (Egypt), coming to the king of the north (the Selucid Kingdom). This refers to Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of the South. Throughout these passages "King of the South" will refer to the Ptolemys of Egypt. Ptolemy II Philadelphus was the most magnificent of the Egyptian kings. He finished construction of Pharos' Lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the world. He gave his daughter Berenice to the Seleucid king Antiochus II Theos, King of the North. Throughout these passages "King of the North" will refer to the Seleucids of the Mid-East.

Unfortunately, Antiochus II was already married to Laodice. In order to marry Berenice, Antiochus II had to send Laodice away to Antioch. His new marriage was a political maneuver to seal a treaty made with Ptolemy II around 250 B.C.. In 246 B.C., Antiochus left Berenice (not retaining the power of the arm), to live once again with Laodice. Laodice saw her chance for revenge and she poisoned Antiochus ("neither shall he stand, nor his arm" ) and proclaimed her son Seleucus II Callinicus, king. Laodice, having put her son on the throne, had her partisans at Antioch kill Berenice and her son by Antiochus II, which caused an invasion from Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III ( "a branch of the root".) Ptolemy III took a great victory but did not totally defeat the Seleucid king before he returned to Egypt.

Daniel ll:l0 through 17: "But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousand: but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in this glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 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, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him."

These last passages refer to five wars fought by the Ptolemys and the Seleucid king, Antiochus III the Great. These wars were fought for possession of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. In 241 B.C. the Ptolemy's conquered Syria, Lebanon, and the north Syrian coast. In 200 B.C., at the battle of Panion under Antiochus III, the Seleucids finally regained all their territory plus Palestine right to the border of Egypt, isolating Egypt from its eastern commerce. Ptolemy V lost most of his imperial possessions to Antiochus III. In the treaty which followed, Ptolemy V took the daughter of Antiochus III, Cleopatra I, in marriage. She is "the daughter of women" of verse 17 (this Cleopatra is not the famous Queen we see on the screen that was Cleopatra VII, a Ptolemy Queen).

Daniel ll: l8,l9,20: "After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle."

In these verses Antiochus III continues to wage other battles, but most writers miss the important point... Antiochus is killed and is succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV Philopator, in l87 B.C. ("but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease"). Seleucus IV was murdered by Helodorus at the instigation of his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes in l75 B.C. ("but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found"). Antiochus IV upsurped the throne, supplanting Demetrius, the young son of Seleucus IV, who was being held in Rome as ransom for the debt incurred at the battle of Magnesia.

Antiochus IV was the great raiser of taxes alluded to in Daniel ll:20. He died in Babylon in l64 B.C. Up to the time of his death, historical events mesh so closely with these verses from Daniel that many scholars believe they were written in l64 B.C., from a retrospective viewpoint. In the verses that follow, even though some of the stated events actually happened, the history does not fit. Some happenings were in a different time frame than what is prophesied in the Bible. Some scholars claim that from verse 21 to the end of the chapter we are being told of the escapades of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus IV Epiphanes "did" pollute the temple in Jersualem by sacrificing a pig on the altar, but he didn't do it at the time specified in the Bible. He did have wars with Egypt, but here again the time does not match.

A study of The First Book of the Maccabees, (part of The Apocrypha books that were once included in the Bible), finds the story of the Jewish War of Independence fought against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It covers the years l67 B.C. to l34 B.C. a period when the Selucid kings ruled. Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king of the Selucid Empire in l75 B.C. In l69 B.C. he attacked Egypt with a strong force of chariots, elephants, cavalry, and a great fleet and he defeated the Ptolemy king. In l67 B.C., eight years after Antiochus takes the Selucid throne, he captures Jerusalem. He pollutes the sanctuary by sacrificing a pig on the altar of the temple. This caused the sanctuary to become desolate (this is not 'the abomination that maketh desolation'). Through his cruel oppression of the people, including exorbitant taxes, he caused a family of priests known as the Maccabees, to start a revolution. In l64 B.C. the Maccabees purified the sanctuary and built a new altar. They made new holy dishes and lampstands. They reinstituted the sacrifice to God. This was eleven years after the beginning of the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus IV Epiphanes eventually repented of his evil ways, and wanted to make amends for his desecration of the temple. He was in the plains of Persia when he became sick and died in l64 B.C., having ruled for a little over eleven years.

A continuation of chapter eleven of Daniel points to a time frame and dates that show the length of time that Antiochus ruled. This time frame does not align with the length of time of Antiochus' reign, but refers instead to events that lie in the future.

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