Daniel 10 - 12 Part 3
We left off with the King of the North, Antiochus III, also known as Antiochus the Great entering into the kingdom of the south and also taking over Judea, which was previously under the south's (Ptolemy's) control). We pick up there in Verses 17 - 19.
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17He 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. 18After 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. 19Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
So verse 17 says He, Antiochus III, will set his face to enter the south with the strength of his whole kingdom and will give him, the south, the daughter of women, but she, antiochus III's daughter, would not stand on his, Antiochus III side.
Did this happen. Well Antiochus did have a daughter named Cleopatra. Wikipedia says:
Cleopatra I was the daughter of Antiochus III the Great, King of the Seleucid Empire, and Queen Laodice III.
In 197 BC, Antiochus III had captured a number of cities in Asia Minor previously under the control of the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. The Romans supported the Egyptian interests, when they negotiated with the Seleucid king in Lysimachia in 196 BC. In response, Antiochus III indicated his willingness to make peace with Ptolemy V and to have his daughter Cleopatra I marry Ptolemy V. They were betrothed in 195 BC and their marriage took place in 193 BC in Raphia.[3]
So we see Antiochus did give Ptolemy the daughter of women, but she did not stand by Antiochus' side.
Verse 18 also states: 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.
This sounds awaful familiar to Manius Glabrio. We read again from Wikipedia:
In 192 BC Antiochus invaded Greece with a 10,000-man army, and was elected the commander in chief of the Aetolian League.[18] In 191 BC, however, the Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio routed (him) Antiochus at Thermopylae, forcing him to withdraw to Asia Minor.
Cleopatra I,
Not to be confused with Cleopatra VII, and Julius Ceasar
Verse 19 ends us with:
19Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall (die), and not be found.
History states:
Antiochus mounted a fresh eastern expedition in Luristan (his own land), where he died while pillaging a temple of Bel at Elymaïs, Persia, in 187 BC.[5
It appears like scripture is lining up perfectly with history. With this knowledge in mind let's read Daniel 11:17-19 again.
17(He) Antiochus 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) Antiochus shall give (him the daughter of women, corrupting her:) Ptolemy his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, but she shall not stand on (his) her father's side, neither be for him. 18After this Antiochus shall (he) turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince working for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by Antiochus (him) to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 19Then Antiochus (he) shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall (die), and not be found.
Antiochus Epiphanes (IV)
We now come to the end of Antiochus III's life and we see his two son's take over. Seleucus IV and Antiochus IV. We read from Verses 20 and 21:
20Then Seleucus IV shall stand up in his father's estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. 21And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, his brother Antiochus IV.
So the first thing we'll notice is that the first king, being Seleucus IV, that would stand up in his father's estate would be a raiser of taxes. It also states that the taxes would be raised in the glory of the kingdom. Just like when Antiochus III entering "the glorious land" meant entering Israel, raising taxes in "the glory of the kingdom" means raising taxes in Israel.
I was not expecting to see this while looking for a reference on wikipedia, however it reads:
He Seleucus IV was the second son and successor of Antiochus III the Great and Laodice III. Seleucus IV wed his sister Laodice IV, by whom he had three children: two sons Antiochus, Demetrius I Soter and a daughter Laodice V.
He was compelled by financial necessities, created in part by the heavy war-indemnity exacted by Rome, to pursue an ambitious policy. In an effort to collect money to pay the Romans, he sent his minister Heliodorus to Jerusalem to seize the Jewish temple treasury.
The Bible tells of a prophecy given by a messenger angel in Daniel 11:20 (NLT). The text states that Seleucus "will be remembered as the king who sent a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor." The deuterocanonical lends more to this in 2 Maccabees 3:2-3... "It came to pass that even the kings themselves, and the princes esteemed the place [the Temple in Jerusalem] worthy of the highest honour, and glorified the temple with very great gifts: So that Seleucus king of Asia allowed out of his revenues all the charges belonging to the ministry of the sacrifices."
On his return from Jerusalem, Heliodorus assassinated Seleucus, and seized the throne for himself. The true heir Demetrius, son of Seleucus, was now being retained in Rome as a hostage, and the kingdom was seized by the younger brother of Seleucus, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus managed to oust Heliodorus and an infant son of Seleucus, also named Antiochus, was formal head of state for a few years until Epiphanes had him murdered.
So we see, Seleucus IV was the raiser of taxes in the glorious land just as the book of Daniel says, and then Antiochus IV was raised up after him, and was that vile person.
Antiochus IV
Antiochus IV
We've already learned about Antiochus IV, while reading the story of Hanukkah. If you want to read it again, you should read the first four chapters of 1 Maccabees. Verses 21 through 35 describe part of the life of Antiochus. Let's finish tonight by reading more about him.
20Then Seleucus IV shall stand up in his father Antiochus III's estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
21And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, his brother Antiochus IV, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant, Onias III, the high priest of Israel. 23And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. 25And 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 forecast devices against him.
26Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 27And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 28Then shall he, Antiochus IV return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, which is Israel; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.
Antiochus then goes to attack Egypt a second time, we read this at verse 29.
29At the time appointed (he) Antiochus IV shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
30For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return,
We can see verse 29 and the first part of 30 explained in history:
In 168 BC, Antiochus led a second attack on Egypt and also sent a fleet to capture Cyprus. Before he reached Alexandria, his path was blocked by a single elderly Roman ambassador named Gaius Popillius Laenaswho delivered a message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and Cyprus or consider himself in a state of war with the Roman Republic. Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council, whereupon the Roman envoy drew a line in the sand around Antiochus and said: "Before you leave this circle, give me a reply that I can take back to the Roman Senate." This implied Rome would declare war if the King stepped out of the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his options, Antiochus decided to withdraw. Only then did Popillius agree to shake hands with him.[10]
So the ships of Chittim carried the Roman ambassador Gaius Laenas who stated, if he attacked egypt, they would consider it an act of war against Rome. That is why it says "he shall be grieved, and return. This is also where we get the expression "he drew a line in the sand". We continue with the second half of verse 30, which describes the desecration of the temple and the story of Hanukkah. Verse 30 continues:
30For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate [A]. 32And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God, Including Judah Maccabees, shall be strong, and do exploits.
33And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
So this week we read the about the end of Antiochus III's life and Antiochus IV taking away the daily sacrifice, polluting the sanctuary, and making it desolate. Everything still continues to match up with history.
Next week we should complete the book of Daniel.
[A]
The abomination was probably a statue of Zeus. We know this is the god Antiochus worshipped. The Encyclopedia britannica tells us:
Even before he had begun his reign he had contributed to the building of the temple of Zeus in Athens and to the adornment of the theatre.