11.0b- The evil king of Syria, second part:

          (Related to the Antichrist)

In Daniel 11 verses 35 through 45 we read:

35 Some of those wise leaders will be killed, but as a result of this the people will be purified. This will continue until the end comes, the time that God has set.

36 “The king of Syria will do as he pleases. He will boast that he is greater than any god, superior even to the Supreme God. He will be able to do this until the time when God punishes him. God will do exactly what he has planned. 37 The king will ignore the god his ancestors served, and also the god that women love. In fact, he will ignore every god, because he will think he is greater than any of them. 38 Instead, he will honor the god who protects fortresses. He will offer gold, silver, jewels, and other rich gifts to a god his ancestors never worshiped. 39 To defend his fortresses, he will use people who worship a foreign god. He will give great honor to those who accept him as ruler, put them into high offices, and give them land as a reward. 

40 “When the king of Syria's final hour has almost come, the king of Egypt will attack him, and the king of Syria will fight back with all his power, using chariots, horses, and many ships. He will invade many countries, like the waters of a flood. 41 He will even invade the Promised Land and kill tens of thousands, but the countries of Edom, Moab, and what is left of Ammon will escape. 42 When he invades all those countries, even Egypt will not be spared. 43 He will take away Egypt's hidden treasures of gold and silver and its other prized possessions. He will conquer Libya and Ethiopia.

44 Then news that comes from the east and the north will frighten him, and he will fight furiously, killing many people. 45 He will even set up his huge royal tents between the sea and the mountain on which the Temple stands. But he will die, with no one there to help him.”

11.3a - Discussion of Daniel 11, verses 30- 34

>>> Verse 30: The Romans obliged Antiochus to retreat from Egypt. He first wanted to consult with his allies, but the Roman delegation put a circle in the sand around him and told him not to step out of the circle without an answer. Antiochus conceded, while he was only at a distance of 10 kilometer from Alexandria. He was so angry about this, that he, on his way back, entered in Jerusalem, and killed 40 000 Jews. (This is why it says in this verse: “Then he will turn back in a rage and try to destroy the religion of God's people”). Many others he took with him in slavery.  Also, many unfaithful Jews helped him to defame the temple. (See also verse 32 of this chapter).

>>> Verse 31: Antiochus sent messengers with a decree to Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea, ordering the people to follow customs that were foreign to the country. He ordered them not to offer any more of the habitual offerings in the Temple, and commanded them to treat Sabbaths and festivals as ordinary work days. He had his soldiers slaughter a swine and with this he desecrated the altar and also he entered the holiest places of the temple. Here we see the preparation of the scenery for “The Awful Horror”, such as will occur later again. See Matthew 24 verse 15: “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place.” And 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4: “He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God”. And again in Daniel 8:11, Daniel 9:27, and Daniel 12: 11.

>>> Verse 32: This verse is a promise to us when it says: “he will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion,

but those who follow God will fight back  ”. In other words: Those who remain close to God He will give strength to “fight back”. … It concerns here the Maccabees.

>>> Verse 33: The “Wise leaders” mentioned here are those who witness the truth to others, “sharing their wisdom”. But also the suffering will increase. They will “be killed in battle”.  This is also as it will be at the end times. 

>>> Verse 34: The “little help” mentioned in this verse comes from a revival movement that took place in the Jewish communion of the Maccabees. They fought against pagan blemishes.  However there were also hypocrites among them who went with them for selfish reasons as it says at the end of this verse: “even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons”. 

11.2a - Discussion of Daniel 11, verses 24- 29

>>> Verse 24: Again, by using trickery, such as “nobody had ever done before him”, namely: he, Antiochus,  scattered coins amongst the people. In this way he made himself more popular.

He conquered Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia. Also he started a war with Egypt.

>>> Verses 25 and 26: He conquered Egypt under Ptolemy V, and put him in prison. He then proclaimed himself king of Egypt (171 BC -167BC.) For this he used corrupt practices and subornation of functionaries of Ptolemy.

>>> Verse 27: Antiochus Epiphanes and Ptolemy VI Filometer, (uncle and nephew), both plot and deceive each other, but the plans of both of them end up without results. This is because what it says at the end of this verse: “because the time for it has not yet come”. In other words: God entangled their thoughts, because He alone defines at what time things will occur, especially with reference to the “End Times”.

>>> Verse28: Antiochus returns to Syria, with the treasures he had captured in Egypt. In Judea there is great joy because of the rumor that Antiochus had died in the battle. Jason had returned before, to expel Menelaus. Antiochus on his part revenged himself because of the joy of the people over his supposed death. He caused a bloodbath and robbed the temple. 

>>> Verse 29: Antiochus invaded Egypt again but this time without success. 

11.1a- Discussion of Daniel 11, verses 21-23

>>> Verse 21:  The king of Syria mentioned in this verse was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, an evil man. He was king from 175 BC-163BC.

The verses 21 through 34 of Daniel 11 give a prefiguration of the “last Syrian King”. This last Syrian King is described hereafter in Daniel 11 verses 35 through 45, and is the same as the antichrist. We will find in this part of Daniel, - (the verses 21 through 34) - , many features that are characteristic of the antichrist.

Antiochus IV came unexpectedly and seized power by deceit.

He deceived his brother Demetrius who was in Rome as a hostage. At that moment Antiochus IV took the throne by trickery.

In history it is known that he flattered the people, and put them on his side that way.  He even sang street songs with the people of Syria…. This is also how the Antichrist, later on, will gain the sympathy of the people. See 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 9-11: “The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders, 10 and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved. 11 And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe what is false”.

>>> verse 22: With “God's High Priest” is meant the faithful priest Onias III who was removed from his post and his unfaithful brother, Jason, was put in his place.

>>> Verse 23: Antiochus also ruptures the alliance with Jason, because of the still worse Menelaus, who took his place.

Antiochus, who was in Rome at that time for paying taxes, had only a little amount of followers when he returned from Rome. This is what is meant by: “even though he rules only a small nation”, at the end of verse 23. However with the help of the king of Pergamum, he came back on the throne. ……. We can foresee that also the Antichrist will have in the beginning only a little amount of people following him. And, he also, will surely obtain more power by making various alliances and through trickery. 

11.0a- The evil king of Syria, first part:

          (Related to Antiochus IV Epiphanes)

In Daniel 11 verses 21 through 34 we read:

“21 The angel went on to explain: “The next king of Syria will be an evil man who has no right to be king, but he will come unexpectedly and seize power by trickery. 22 Anyone who opposes him, even God's High Priest, will be swept away and wiped out. 23 By making treaties, he will deceive other nations, and he will grow stronger and stronger, even though he rules only a small nation. 24 He will invade a wealthy province without warning and will do things that none of his ancestors ever did. Then he will divide among his followers the goods and property he has captured in war. He will make plans to attack fortresses, but his time will soon run out.

25 “He will boldly raise a large army to attack the king of Egypt, who will prepare to fight back with a huge and powerful army. But the king of Egypt will be deceived and will not be successful. 26 His closest advisers will ruin him. Many of his soldiers will be killed, and his army will be wiped out. 27 Then the two kings will sit down to eat at the same table, but their motives will be evil, and they will lie to each other. They will not get what they want, because the time for it has not yet come. 28 The king of Syria will return home with all the loot he has captured, determined to destroy the religion of God's people. He will do as he pleases and then return to his own land.

29 “Later on he will invade Egypt again, but this time things will turn out differently. 30 The Romans will come in ships and oppose him, and he will be frightened. 

“Then he will turn back in a rage and try to destroy the religion of God's people. He will follow the advice of those who have abandoned that religion. 31 Some of his soldiers will make the Temple ritually unclean. They will stop the daily sacrifices and set up The Awful Horror. 

32 By deceit the king will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion, but those who follow God will fight back. 33 Wise leaders of the people will share their wisdom with many others. But for a while some of them will be killed in battle or be burned to death, and some will be robbed and made prisoners. 34 While the killing is going on, God's people will receive a little help, even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons.

10. 3- Discussion of Daniel 11 verses 17-20

>>> Verse 17: In 193 BC, a false alliance was prepared from the side of Antiochus. He “buys” Egypt from Ptolemy using his daughter Cleopatra as “exchange object”. However Antiochus was defrauded, because instead of helping her father, Cleopatra helped her husband Ptolemy to her own advantage. So is the deceiver deceived, (Note: This Cleopatra is not the one who was married to Marco Antonio and died in 30 BC.)

>>> Verses 18 and 19: The king of Syria conquered a large number of islands in the Mediterranean Sea, such as Rhode and Samos, from Greece. The “foreign leader”, mentioned in this verse, was the Roman consul Scipio. He defeated him and “put an end to his arrogance” it says in this verse.   We see this occurring, because after this defeat, the king was no more capable of any more actions.

>>> verse20: The “another king”, mentioned in this verse was his son Seleucus IV Philopater (ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC). He also robbed the temple of Jerusalem. The taxes were paid to Rome. 

Seleucus IV was poisoned by Heliodorus, (the extortionist), who plundered the temple and wanted to be king himself. The fact that he was poisoned confirms what it says at the end of verse 20: “that king will be killed, but not publicly and not in battle”. This is an example where we see how precise the visions of Daniel are being fulfilled. 

10.2- Discussion of Daniel 11 verses 7-16

>>> In General, we see in these verses a time of suffering, battles, persecution and other distress. Many would ask: ¿Where is God?

It is the time of the rise of unbelief, atheism and revolution against God. Therefore, God is not mentioned in this chapter except once, in verse 32, where his name is used to show how it should be: “but those who follow God will fight back”.

 >>> Verses 7 and 8: The brother of Berenice, Ptolemy III, attacks Syria to revenge his sister. He conquered the eastern provinces in the year 246 BC.

>>> Verse 9: After this it is Seleucis II who attacks Egypt. He is however obliged to return to his own country, because of troubles there.

>>> Verses 10-14: Continued battles between Egypt and Syria, (284 BC.–175BC.), especially about the possession of Palestine.

>>> Verse 11: This concerns Ptolemy IV Philopator , son of Ptolemy III Euergetes I and Berenice II. He was king of Egypt from 221BC - 205 BC.  During his reign began the decline of the Ptolemaic Empire.

>>> Verse 13: He was defeated by Antiochus III, “the great” in 198 BC. Antiochus III reined from 223BC-187BC.

>>> Verse 14: The king of Egypt was Ptolemy V, also called Epiphanes. Some apostate Jews took the side of Ptolemy against Antiochus, but others took the other side. … From this we learn that believers should not take part- or support, any of the “Babylonian” world powers, which are fighting each other, see John 18 verse 36:”Jesus answered, “My kingdom doesn't belong to this world”. 

>>> Verses 15 and 16: The king of Syria, Antiochus the Great fought against Ptolemy V of Egypt. He was thereby helped by a number of Jews (see verse 14). This was because he privileged the Jews by helping them to return from exile. Nevertheless all of this was deceiving, because as it says in verse 16: “He will stand in the Promised Land and have it completely in his power”.