The book of Daniel was completed in about 536 B.C.E., and the book covers the period from 618 to about 536 B.C.E.—Da 8:1, 2.
TWO rival kings are locked in an all-out struggle for supremacy. As the years pass, first one, then the other, gains ascendancy. At times, one king rules supreme while the other becomes inactive, and there are periods of no conflict. But then another battle suddenly erupts, and the conflict continues. Among the participants in this drama have been Syrian King Seleucus I Nicator, Egyptian King Ptolemy Lagus, Syrian Princess and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra I, Roman Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, and Palmyrene Queen Zenobia. As the conflict nears its end, Nazi Germany, the Communist bloc of nations, the Anglo-American World Power, the League of Nations, and the United Nations have also been involved. The finale is an episode unforeseen by any of these political entities. Jehovah’s angel declared this exciting prophecy to the prophet Daniel some 2,500 years ago
(Daniel 11:1-45) “And as for me, in the first year of Da·ri′us the Mede[539/538 B.C.E.] I stood up as a strengthener and as a fortress to him.
Darius was no longer living, but the angel referred to his reign as the starting point of the prophetic message. It was this king who had ordered that Daniel be taken out of the lions’ pit. Darius had also decreed that all his subjects should fear Daniel’s God(Daniel 6:21-27) However, the one for whom the angel stood up as a supporter was, not Darius the Mede, but the angel’s associate Michael—the prince of Daniel’s people. (Compare Daniel 10:12-14.) God’s angel provided this support while Michael contended with the demon prince of Medo-Persia.
Daniel 11:2 And now what is truth I shall tell to you: “Look! There will yet be three kings standing up for Persia, and the fourth one will amass greater riches than all [others]. And as soon as he has become strong in his riches, he will rouse up everything against the kingdom of Greece.
The first three kings were
(1)Cyrus the Great
(2)Cambyses II
(3)Darius I (Hystaspes).
Since Bardiya (or perhaps a pretender named Gaumata) ruled for only seven months, the prophecy did not take his brief reign into consideration.
In 490 B.C.E., the third king, Darius I, attempted to invade Greece for the second time. However, the Persians were routed at Marathon and retreated to Asia Minor. Though Darius made careful preparations for a further campaign against Greece, he could not carry it out before his death four years later. That was left up to his son and successor, the “fourth” king, Xerxes I. He was the King Ahasuerus who married Esther.—Esther 1:1; 2:15-17.
Xerxes I did indeed “rouse up everything against the kingdom of Greece,” that is, the independent Grecian states as a group. “Urged on by ambitious courtiers,” says the book The Medes and Persians—Conquerors and Diplomats, “Xerxes launched an assault by land and sea.” Greek historian Herodotus, of the fifth century B.C.E., writes that “no other expedition compared to this seems of any account.” His record states that the sea force “amounted in all to 517,610 men. The number of the foot soldiers was 1,700,000; that of the horsemen 80,000; to which must be added the Arabs who rode on camels, and the Libyans who fought in chariots, whom I reckon at 20,000. The whole number, therefore, of the land and sea forces added together amounts to 2,317,610 men.”
Planning on nothing less than a complete conquest, Xerxes I moved his huge force against Greece in 480 B.C.E. Overcoming a Greek delaying action at Thermopylae, the Persians ravaged Athens. At Salamis, though, they met with terrible defeat. Another Greek victory took place at Plataea, in 479 B.C.E. None of the seven kings who succeeded Xerxes on the throne of the Persian Empire during the next 143 years carried war into Greece. But then there arose a mighty king in Greece.
Daniel 11:3 “And a mighty king will certainly stand up and rule with extensive dominion and do according to his will.
Twenty-year-old Alexander ‘stood up’ as king of Macedonia in 336 B.C.E. He did become “a mighty king”—Alexander the Great. Driven by a plan of his father, Philip II, he took the Persian provinces in the Middle East. Crossing the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, his 47,000 men scattered the 250,000 troops of Darius III at Gaugamela. Subsequently, Darius fled and was murdered, ending the Persian dynasty. Greece now became the world power, and Alexander ‘ruled with extensive dominion and did according to his will.’
Alexander’s rulership over the world was to be brief, for God’s angel added:
Daniel 11:4 And when he will have stood up, his kingdom will be broken and be divided toward the four winds of the heavens, but not to his posterity and not according to his dominion with which he had ruled; because his kingdom will be uprooted, even for others than these.
Alexander was not quite 33 years old when sudden illness took his life in Babylon in 323 B.C.E.
Alexander’s vast empire did not pass to “his posterity.” His brother Philip III Arrhidaeus reigned for less than seven years and was murdered at the instance of Olympias, Alexander’s mother, in 317 B.C.E.
Alexander’s son Alexander IV ruled until 311 B.C.E. when he met death at the hands of Cassander, one of his father’s generals.
Alexander’s illegitimate son Heracles sought to rule in his father’s name but was murdered in 309 B.C.E.
Thus ended the line of Alexander, “his dominion” departing from his family.
Following the death of Alexander, his kingdom was “divided toward the four winds.” His many generals quarreled among themselves as they grabbed for territory. One-eyed General Antigonus I tried to bring all of Alexander’s empire under his control. But he was killed in a battle at Ipsus in Phrygia.
By the year 301 B.C.E., four of Alexander’s generals were in power over the vast territory that their commander had conquered.
(1)Cassander ruled Macedonia and Greece.
(2)Lysimachus gained control over Asia Minor and Thrace.
(3)Seleucus I Nicator secured Mesopotamia and Syria.
(4)Ptolemy Lagus took Egypt and Palestine.
True to the prophetic word, Alexander’s great empire was divided into four Hellenistic kingdoms.
Daniel 11:5 “And the king of the south will become strong, even [one] of his princes; and he will prevail against him and will certainly rule with extensive dominion [greater than] that one’s ruling power.
The designations “the king of the north” and “the king of the south” refer to kings north and south of Daniel’s people, who were by then freed from Babylonian captivity and restored to the land of Judah.
The initial “king of the south” was Ptolemy I of Egypt.
One of Alexander’s generals who prevailed against Ptolemy I and ruled “with extensive dominion” was Syrian King Seleucus I Nicator. He assumed the role of “the king of the north.”
At the onset of the conflict, the land of Judah was under the dominion of the king of the south. From about 320 B.C.E., Ptolemy I influenced Jews to come to Egypt as colonists. A Jewish colony flourished in Alexandria, where Ptolemy I founded a famous library. The Jews in Judah remained under the control of Ptolemaic Egypt, the king of the south, until 198 B.C.E.
Concerning the two kings, the angel prophesied:
Daniel 11:6 “And at the end of [some] years they will ally themselves with each other, and the very daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north in order to make an equitable arrangement. But she will not retain the power of her arm; and he will not stand, neither his arm; and she will be given up, she herself, and those bringing her in, and he who caused her birth, and the one making her strong in [those] times.
The prophecy did not take note of Seleucus I Nicator’s son and successor, Antiochus I, because he did not wage a decisive war against the king of the south.
But his successor, Antiochus II, fought a long war against Ptolemy II, the son of Ptolemy I. Antiochus II and Ptolemy II respectively constituted the king of the north and the king of the south.
Antiochus II was married to Laodice, and they had a son named Seleucus II.
Ptolemy II had a daughter named Berenice.
In 250 B.C.E., these two kings entered into “an equitable arrangement.” To pay the price of this alliance, Antiochus II divorced his wife Laodice and married Berenice, “the very daughter of the king of the south.” By Berenice, he had a son who became heir to the Syrian throne instead of the sons of Laodice.
Berenice’s “arm,” or supporting power, was her father, Ptolemy II. When he died in 246 B.C.E., she did not “retain the power of her arm” with her husband. Antiochus II rejected her, remarried Laodice, and named their son to be his successor.
As Laodice planned, Berenice and her son were murdered. Evidently, the attendants who had brought Berenice from Egypt to Syria—“those bringing her in”—suffered the same end. Laodice even poisoned Antiochus II, and thus “his arm,” or power, also did “not stand.” Hence, Berenice’s father—“he who caused her birth”—and her Syrian husband—who had temporarily made her “strong”—both died. This left Seleucus II, the son of Laodice, as Syrian king.
Daniel 11:7 And one from the sprout of her roots will certainly stand up in his position, and he will come to the military force and come against the fortress of the king of the north and will certainly act against them and prevail.
“One from the sprout” of Berenice’s parents, or “roots,” was her brother.
At his father’s death, he ‘stood up’ as the king of the south, the Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy III.
At once he set out to avenge his sister’s murder. Marching against Syrian King Seleucus II, who Laodice had used to murder Berenice and her son, he came against “the fortress of the king of the north.” Ptolemy III took the fortified part of Antioch and dealt a deathblow to Laodice. Moving eastward through the domain of the king of the north, he plundered Babylonia and marched on to India.
Daniel 11:8 And also with their gods, with their molten images, with their desirable articles of silver and of gold, [and] with the captives he will come to Egypt. And he himself will for [some] years stand off from the king of the north.
Over 200 years earlier, Persian King Cambyses II had conquered Egypt and carried home Egyptian gods, “their molten images.” Plundering Persia’s former royal capital Susa, Ptolemy III recovered these gods and took them ‘captive’ to Egypt. He also brought back as spoils of war a great many “desirable articles of silver and of gold.” Obliged to quell revolt at home, Ptolemy III ‘stood off from the king of the north,’ inflicting no further injuries upon him.
Daniel 11:9 “And he will actually come into the kingdom of the king of the south and go back to his own soil.
The king of the north—Syrian King Seleucus II—struck back. He entered “the kingdom,” or realm, of the Egyptian king of the south but met defeat. With only a small remnant of his army, Seleucus II ‘went back to his own soil,’ retreating to the Syrian capital Antioch in about 242 B.C.E. At his death, his son Seleucus III succeeded him.
Daniel 11:10 “Now as for his sons, they will excite themselves and actually gather together a crowd of large military forces. And in coming he will certainly come and flood over and pass through. But he will go back, and he will excite himself all the way to his fortress.
Assassination ended the reign of Seleucus III in less than three years. His brother, Antiochus III, succeeded him on the Syrian throne. This son of Seleucus II assembled great forces for an assault on the king of the south, who was by then Ptolemy IV. The new Syrian king of the north successfully fought against Egypt and won back the seaport of Seleucia, the province of Coele-Syria, the cities of Tyre and Ptolemaïs, and nearby towns. He routed an army of King Ptolemy IV and took many cities of Judah. In the spring of 217 B.C.E., Antiochus III left Ptolemaïs and went north, “all the way to his fortress” in Syria.
Daniel 11:11 “And the king of the south will embitter himself and will have to go forth and fight with him, [that is,] with the king of the north; and he will certainly have a large crowd stand up, and the crowd will actually be given into the hand of that one.
With 75,000 troops, the king of the south, Ptolemy IV, moved northward against the enemy. The Syrian king of the north, Antiochus III, had raised “a large crowd” of 68,000 to stand up against him. But “the crowd” was “given into the hand” of the king of the south in battle at the coastal city of Raphia, not far from Egypt’s border.
Daniel 11:12 And the crowd will certainly be carried away. His heart will become exalted, and he will actually cause tens of thousands to fall; but he will not use his strong position.
Ptolemy IV, the king of the south, “carried away” 10,000 Syrian infantry and 300 cavalry into death and took 4,000 as prisoners. The kings then made a treaty whereby Antiochus III kept his Syrian seaport of Seleucia but lost Phoenicia and Coele-Syria. Over this victory, the heart of the Egyptian king of the south ‘became exalted,’ especially against Jehovah. Judah remained under the control of Ptolemy IV. However, he did not “use his strong position” to follow up his victory against the Syrian king of the north. Instead, Ptolemy IV turned to a life of debauchery, and his five-year-old son, Ptolemy V, became the next king of the south some years before the death of Antiochus III.
Daniel 11:13 “And the king of the north must return and set up a crowd larger than the first; and at the end of the times, [some] years, he will come, doing so with a great military force and with a great deal of goods.
These “times” were 16 or more years after the Egyptians defeated the Syrians at Raphia. When young Ptolemy V became king of the south, Antiochus III set out with “a crowd larger than the first” to recover the territories he had lost to the Egyptian king of the south. To that end, he joined forces with Macedonian King Philip V.
Daniel 11:14 And in those times there will be many who will stand up against the king of the south.
Many did “stand up against the king of the south.” Besides facing the forces of Antiochus III and his Macedonian ally, the young king of the south faced problems at home in Egypt. Because his guardian Agathocles, who ruled in his name, dealt arrogantly with the Egyptians, many revolted.
“And the sons of the robbers belonging to your people will, for their part, be carried along to try making a vision come true; and they will have to stumble.
Even some of Daniel’s people became ‘sons of robbers,’ or revolutionaries. But any “vision” such Jewish men had of ending Gentile domination of their homeland was false, and they would fail, or “stumble.”
Daniel 11:15 “And the king of the north will come and throw up a siege rampart and actually capture a city with fortifications. And as for the arms of the south, they will not stand, neither the people of his picked ones; and there will be no power to keep standing. 16 And the one coming against him will do according to his will, and there will be no one standing before him. And he will stand in the land of the Decoration, and there will be extermination in his hand.
Military forces under Ptolemy V, or “arms of the south,” succumbed to assault from the north. At Paneas (Caesarea Philippi), Antiochus III drove Egypt’s General Scopas and 10,000 select men, or “picked ones,” into Sidon, “a city with fortifications.” There Antiochus III ‘threw up a siege rampart,’ taking that Phoenician seaport in 198 B.C.E. He acted “according to his will” because the forces of the Egyptian king of the south were unable to stand before him. Antiochus III then marched against Jerusalem, the capital of “the land of the Decoration,” Judah. In 198 B.C.E., Jerusalem and Judah passed from domination by the Egyptian king of the south to that of the Syrian king of the north. And Antiochus III, the king of the north, began to “stand in the land of the Decoration.” There was “extermination in his hand” for all opposing Jews and Egyptians.
Daniel 11:17 And he will set his face to come with the forcefulness of his entire kingdom, and there will be equitable [terms] with him; and he will act effectively. And as regards the daughter of womankind, it will be granted to him to bring her to ruin. And she will not stand, and she will not continue to be his.
The king of the north, Antiochus III, “set his face” to dominate Egypt “with the forcefulness of his entire kingdom.” But he ended up making “equitable terms” of peace with Ptolemy V, the king of the south. Rome’s demands had caused Antiochus III to change his plan. When he and King Philip V of Macedonia leagued against the Egyptian king of tender years to take over his territories, the guardians of Ptolemy V turned to Rome for protection. Taking advantage of the opportunity to expand its sphere of influence, Rome flexed its muscles.
Under compulsion by Rome, Antiochus III brought terms of peace to the king of the south. Rather than surrendering conquered territories, as Rome had demanded, Antiochus III planned to make a nominal transfer of them by having his daughter Cleopatra I—“the daughter of womankind”—marry Ptolemy V. Provinces that included Judah, “the land of the Decoration,” would be given as her dowry. At the marriage in 193 B.C.E., however, the Syrian king did not let these provinces go to Ptolemy V. This was a political marriage, formed to make Egypt subject to Syria. But the scheme failed because Cleopatra I did “not continue to be his,” for she later sided with her husband. When war broke out between Antiochus III and the Romans, Egypt took the side of Rome.
Daniel 11:18 And he will turn his face back to the coastlands and will actually capture many. And a commander will have to make the reproach from him cease for himself, [so that] his reproach will not be. He will make it turn back upon that one. 19 And he will turn his face back to the fortresses of his [own] land, and he will certainly stumble and fall, and he will not be found.
The “coastlands” were those of Macedonia, Greece, and Asia Minor. A war broke out in Greece in 192 B.C.E., and Antiochus III was induced to come to Greece. Displeased because of the Syrian king’s efforts to capture additional territories there, Rome formally declared war on him. At Thermopylae he suffered a defeat at Roman hands. About a year after losing the battle of Magnesia in 190 B.C.E., he had to give up everything in Greece, Asia Minor, and in areas west of the Taurus Mountains. Rome exacted a heavy fine and established its domination over the Syrian king of the north. Driven from Greece and Asia Minor and having lost nearly all his fleet, Antiochus III ‘turned his face back to the fortresses of his own land,’ Syria. The Romans had ‘turned back upon him his reproach against them.’ Antiochus III died while trying to rob a temple at Elymaïs, Persia, in 187 B.C.E. He thus ‘fell’ in death and was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV, the next king of the north.
As the king of the south, Ptolemy V tried to gain the provinces that should have come to him as Cleopatra’s dowry, but poison ended his efforts. He was succeeded by Ptolemy VI. What about Seleucus IV? In need of money to pay the heavy fine owed to Rome, he sent his treasurer Heliodorus to seize riches said to be stored in Jerusalem’s temple. Desiring the throne, Heliodorus murdered Seleucus IV. However, King Eumenes of Pergamum and his brother Attalus had the slain king’s brother Antiochus IV enthroned
The new king of the north, Antiochus IV, sought to show himself mightier than God by trying to eradicate Jehovah’s arrangement of worship. Defying Jehovah, he dedicated Jerusalem’s temple to Zeus, or Jupiter. In December 167 B.C.E., a pagan altar was erected on top of the great altar in the temple courtyard where a daily burnt offering had been made to Jehovah. Ten days later, a sacrifice to Zeus was offered on the pagan altar. This desecration led to a Jewish uprising under the Maccabees. Antiochus IV battled them for three years. In 164 B.C.E., on the anniversary of the desecration, Judas Maccabaeus rededicated the temple to Jehovah and the festival of dedication—Hanukkah—was instituted.—(John 10:22.22) At that time the festival of dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was wintertime,
38 The Maccabees probably made a treaty with Rome in 161 B.C.E. and established a kingdom in 104 B.C.E. But the friction between them and the Syrian king of the north continued. Finally, Rome was called upon to intervene. The Roman General Gnaeus Pompey took Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. after a three-month siege. In 39 B.C.E., the Roman Senate appointed Herod—an Edomite—to be king of Judea. Ending the Maccabean rule, he took Jerusalem in 37 B.C.E.
Daniel 11:20 “And there must stand up in his position[that of Antiochus IV] one who is causing an exactor to pass through the splendid kingdom, and in a few days he will be broken, but not in anger nor in warfare.
The one ‘standing up’ in this way proved to be the first Roman emperor, Octavian, who was known as Caesar Augustus.
In 2 B.C.E., Augustus sent out “an exactor” by ordering a registration, or census, probably so that he could learn the number of the population for purposes of taxation and military conscription. Because of this decree, Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem for registration, resulting in Jesus’ birth at that foretold location. (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-12)
In August 14 C.E.—“in a few days,” or not long after decreeing the registration—Augustus died at the age of 76, neither “in anger” at an assassin’s hands nor “in warfare,” but as a result of illness.
Daniel 11:21 “And there must stand up in his position[Augustus’] one who is to be despised, and they will certainly not set upon him the dignity of [the] kingdom; and he will actually come in during a freedom from care and take hold of [the] kingdom by means of smoothness. 22 And as regards the arms of the flood, they will be flooded over on account of him, and they will be broken; as will also the Leader of [the] covenant.
The “one who is to be despised” was Tiberius Caesar, the son of Livia, Augustus’ third wife.
Augustus hated this stepson because of his bad traits and did not want him to become the next Caesar. “The dignity of the kingdom” was unwillingly bestowed upon him only after all other likely successors were dead. Augustus adopted Tiberius in 4 C.E. and made him heir to the throne. After the death of Augustus, 54-year-old Tiberius—the despised one—‘stood up,’ assuming power as the Roman emperor and the king of the north.
“Tiberius,” says The New Encyclopædia Britannica, “played politics with the Senate and did not allow it to name him emperor for almost a month [after Augustus died].” He told the Senate that no one but Augustus was capable of carrying the burden of ruling the Roman Empire and asked the senators to restore the republic by entrusting such authority to a group of men rather than to one man. “Not daring to take him at his word,” wrote historian Will Durant, “the Senate exchanged bows with him until at last he accepted power.” Durant added: “The play was well acted on both sides. Tiberius wanted the principate, or he would have found some way to evade it; the Senate feared and hated him, but shrank from re-establishing a republic based, like the old, upon theoretically sovereign assemblies.”
Thus Tiberius ‘took hold of the kingdom by means of smoothness.’
“As regards the arms of the flood”—the military forces of the surrounding kingdoms—the angel said: ‘They will be flooded over and will be broken.’ When Tiberius became the king of the north, his nephew Germanicus Caesar was commander of the Roman troops on the Rhine River. In 15 C.E., Germanicus led his forces against the German hero Arminius, with some success. However, the limited victories were won at great cost, and Tiberius thereafter aborted operations in Germany. Instead, by promoting civil war, he tried to prevent German tribes from uniting. Tiberius generally favored a defensive foreign policy and focused on strengthening the frontiers. This stance was fairly successful. In this way “the arms of the flood” were controlled and were “broken.”
“Broken” too was “the Leader of the covenant” that Jehovah God had made with Abraham for blessing all the families of the earth. Jesus Christ was the Seed of Abraham promised in that covenant. (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16) On Nisan 14, 33 C.E., Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate in the Roman governor’s palace in Jerusalem. The Jewish priests had charged Jesus with treason against the emperor. But Jesus told Pilate: “My kingdom is no part of this world. . . . My kingdom is not from this source.” So that the Roman governor might not free the faultless Jesus, the Jews shouted: “If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Every man making himself a king speaks against Caesar.” After calling for Jesus’ execution, they said: “We have no king but Caesar.”
According to the law of “injured majesty,” which Tiberius had broadened to include virtually any insult to Caesar, Pilate handed Jesus over to be “broken,” or impaled on a torture stake.—John 18:36; 19:12-16; Mark 15:14-20.
Daniel 11:23 And because of their allying themselves with him he will carry on deception and actually come up and become mighty by means of a little nation.
Members of the Roman Senate had constitutionally ‘allied themselves’ with Tiberius, and he formally depended upon them. But he was deceptive, actually becoming “mighty by means of a little nation.” That little nation was the Roman Praetorian Guard, encamped close to Rome’s walls. Its proximity intimidated the Senate and helped Tiberius keep in check any uprisings against his authority among the populace. By means of some 10,000 guards, therefore, Tiberius remained mighty.
Daniel 11:24 During freedom from care, even into the fatness of the jurisdictional district he will enter in and actually do what his fathers and the fathers of his fathers have not done. Plunder and spoil and goods he will scatter among them; and against fortified places he will scheme out his schemes, but only until a time.
Tiberius was extremely suspicious, and his reign abounded with ordered killings. Largely because of the influence of Sejanus, commander of the Praetorian Guard, the latter part of his reign was marked by terror. Finally, Sejanus himself fell under suspicion and was executed. In tyrannizing over people, Tiberius exceeded his forefathers.
Tiberius, however, scattered “plunder and spoil and goods” throughout the Roman provinces. By the time of his death, all the subject peoples were enjoying prosperity. Taxes were light, and he could be generous to those in areas undergoing hard times. If soldiers or officials oppressed anyone or promoted irregularity in handling matters, they could expect imperial vengeance. A firm grip on power maintained public security, and an improved communications system helped commerce. Tiberius made sure that affairs were administered fairly and steadily inside and outside Rome. The laws were improved, and social and moral codes were enhanced by the furthering of reforms instituted by Augustus Caesar. Yet, Tiberius ‘schemed out his schemes,’ so that Roman historian Tacitus described him as a hypocritical man, skilled at putting on false appearances. By the time he died in March 37 C.E., Tiberius was considered to be a tyrant.
The successors to Tiberius who filled the role of the king of the north included Gaius Caesar (Caligula), Claudius I, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian.
“For the most part,” says The New Encyclopædia Britannica, “the successors to Augustus continued his administrative policies and building program, though with less innovation and more ostentation.” The same reference work further points out: “In the late 1st and early 2nd centuries Rome was at the peak of its grandeur and population.” Although Rome had some trouble on the imperial frontiers during this time, its first foretold confrontation with the king of the south did not occur until the third century C.E.
Daniel 11:25 “And he will arouse his power and his heart against the king of the south with a great military force; and the king of the south, for his part, will excite himself for the war with an exceedingly great and mighty military force. And he will not stand, because they will scheme out against him schemes. 26 And the very ones eating his delicacies will bring his breakdown. “And as for his military force, it will be flooded away, and many will certainly fall down slain.
About 300 years after Octavian had made Egypt a Roman province, Roman Emperor Aurelian assumed the role of the king of the north. Meanwhile, Queen Septimia Zenobia of the Roman colony of Palmyra occupied the position of the king of the south.The Palmyrene army occupied Egypt in 269 C.E. under the pretext of making it secure for Rome. Zenobia wanted to make Palmyra the dominant city in the east and wanted to rule over Rome’s eastern provinces. Alarmed by her ambition, Aurelian aroused “his power and his heart” to proceed against Zenobia. As the ruling entity headed by Zenobia, the king of the south ‘excited himself’ for warfare against the king of the north “with an exceedingly great and mighty military force” under two generals, Zabdas and Zabbai. But Aurelian took Egypt and then launched an expedition into Asia Minor and Syria. Zenobia was defeated at Emesa (now Homs), whereupon she retreated to Palmyra. When Aurelian besieged that city, Zenobia valiantly defended it but without success. She and her son fled toward Persia, only to be captured by the Romans at the Euphrates River. The Palmyrenes surrendered their city in 272 C.E. Aurelian spared Zenobia, making her the prize feature in his triumphal procession through Rome in 274 C.E. She spent the rest of her life as a Roman matron.
Aurelian himself ‘did not stand because of schemes against him.’ In 275 C.E., he set out on an expedition against the Persians. While he was waiting in Thrace for the opportunity to cross the straits into Asia Minor, those who ‘ate his food’ carried out schemes against him and brought about his “breakdown.” He was going to call his secretary Eros to account for irregularities. Eros, however, forged a list of names of certain officers marked for death. The sight of this list moved the officers to plot Aurelian’s assassination and to murder him.
The career of the king of the north did not end with the death of Emperor Aurelian. Other Roman rulers followed. For a time, there was an emperor of the west and one of the east. Under these men the “military force” of the king of the north was “flooded away,” or “scattered,” and many ‘fell down slain’ because of the invasions of the Germanic tribes from the north. Goths broke through the Roman frontiers in the fourth century C.E. Invasions continued, one after the other. In 476 C.E., German leader Odoacer removed the last emperor ruling from Rome. By the beginning of the sixth century, the Roman Empire in the west had been shattered, and German kings ruled in Britannia, Gaul, Italy, North Africa, and Spain. The eastern part of the empire lasted into the 15th century.
Daniel 11:27 “And as regards these two kings, their heart will be inclined to doing what is bad, and at one table a lie is what they will keep speaking. But nothing will succeed, because [the] end is yet for the time appointed.
On January 18, 1871, Wilhelm I became the first emperor of the German Reich, or Empire. He appointed Otto von Bismarck as chancellor. With his focus on developing the new empire, Bismarck avoided conflicts with other nations and formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy, known as the Triple Alliance. But the interests of this new king of the north soon clashed with those of the king of the south.
After Wilhelm I and his successor, Frederick III, died in 1888, 29-year-old Wilhelm II ascended the throne. Wilhelm II, or Kaiser Wilhelm, forced Bismarck to resign and followed a policy of expanding Germany’s influence throughout the world. “Under Wilhelm II,” says one historian, “[Germany] assumed an arrogant and a truculent air.”
When Czar Nicholas II of Russia called a peace conference in The Hague, Netherlands, on August 24, 1898, the atmosphere was one of international tension. This conference and the one that followed it in 1907 established the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. By becoming members of this court, the German Reich as well as Great Britain gave the appearance that they favored peace. They sat “at one table,” appearing to be friendly, but ‘their hearts were inclined to do what was bad.’ The diplomatic tactic of ‘speaking a lie at one table’ could not promote real peace. As to their political, commercial, and military ambitions, ‘nothing could succeed’ because the end of the two kings “is yet for the time appointed” by Jehovah God.
Daniel 11:28 “And he will go back to his land with a great amount of goods, and his heart will be against the holy covenant. And he will act effectively and certainly go back to his land.
Kaiser Wilhelm went back to the “land,” or earthly condition, of the ancient king of the north. How? By building up an imperial rule designed to expand the German Reich and extend its influence. Wilhelm II pursued colonial goals in Africa and other places. Wanting to challenge British supremacy at sea, he proceeded to build a powerful navy. “Germany’s naval power went from being negligible to being second only to Britain’s in little more than a decade,” says The New Encyclopædia Britannica. In order to maintain its supremacy, Britain actually had to expand its own naval program. Britain also negotiated the entente cordiale (cordial understanding) with France and a similar agreement with Russia, forming the Triple Entente. Europe was now divided into two military camps—the Triple Alliance on one side and the Triple Entente on the other.
The German Empire followed an aggressive policy, resulting in “a great amount of goods” for Germany because it was the chief part of the Triple Alliance. Austria-Hungary and Italy were Roman Catholic. Therefore, the Triple Alliance also enjoyed papal favor, whereas the king of the south, with his largely non-Catholic Triple Entente, did not.
Daniel 11:29 “At the time appointed he will go back, and he will actually come against the south; but it will not prove to be at the last the same as at the first.
God’s “time appointed” to end Gentile domination of the earth came in 1914 when he set up the heavenly Kingdom. On June 28 of that year, Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian terrorist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. That was the spark that touched off World War I.
Kaiser Wilhelm urged Austria-Hungary to retaliate against Serbia. Assured of German support, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. But Russia came to Serbia’s aid. When Germany declared war on Russia, France (an ally in the Triple Entente) gave support to Russia. Germany then declared war on France. To make Paris more readily accessible, Germany invaded Belgium, whose neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain. So Britain declared war on Germany. Other nations became involved, and Italy switched sides. During the war, Britain made Egypt her protectorate in order to prevent the king of the north from cutting off the Suez Canal and invading Egypt, the ancient land of the king of the south.
“Despite the size and strength of the Allies,” says The World Book Encyclopedia, “Germany seemed close to winning the war.” In previous conflicts between the two kings, the Roman Empire, as king of the north, had consistently been victorious. But this time, ‘things were not the same as at the first.’ The king of the north lost the war.
Daniel 11:30 And there will certainly come against him the ships of Kit′tim, and he will have to become dejected.
In Daniel’s time Kittim was Cyprus. Early in the first world war, Cyprus was annexed by Britain. Moreover, according to The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, the name Kittim “is extended to include the W[est] in general, but esp[ecially] the seafaring W[est].” The New International Version renders the expression “ships of Kittim” as “ships of the western coastlands.” During the first world war, the ships of Kittim proved to be mainly the ships of Britain, lying off the western coast of Europe.
As the war dragged on, the British Navy was strengthened by more ships of Kittim. On May 7, 1915, the German submarine U-20 sank the civilian liner Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland. Among the dead were 128 Americans. Later, Germany extended submarine warfare into the Atlantic. Subsequently, on April 6, 1917, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany. Augmented by U.S. warships and troops, the king of the south—now the Anglo-American World Power—was fully at war with its rival king.
Under assault by the Anglo-American World Power, the king of the north became “dejected” and conceded defeat in November 1918. Wilhelm II fled into exile in the Netherlands, and Germany became a republic. But the king of the north was not yet finished.
“And he will actually go back and hurl denunciations against the holy covenant and act effectively; and he will have to go back and will give consideration to those leaving the holy covenant.
After the war ended, in 1918, the victorious Allies imposed a punitive peace treaty on Germany. The German people found the terms of the treaty harsh, and the new republic was weak from the start. Germany staggered for some years in extreme distress and experienced the Great Depression that ultimately left six million unemployed. By the early 1930’s, conditions were ripe for the rise of Adolf Hitler. He became chancellor in January 1933 and the following year assumed the presidency of what the Nazis called the Third Reich.
Immediately after coming to power, Hitler launched a vicious attack against “the holy covenant,” represented by the anointed brothers of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 25:40) In this he acted “effectively” against these loyal Christians, cruelly persecuting many of them. Hitler enjoyed economic and diplomatic successes, acting “effectively” in those fields also. In a few years, he made Germany a power to be reckoned with on the world scene.
Hitler gave “consideration to those leaving the holy covenant.” Who were these? Evidently, the leaders of Christendom, who claimed to have a covenant relationship with God but had ceased to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Hitler successfully called on “those leaving the holy covenant” for their support. For example, he made a concordat with the pope in Rome. In 1935, Hitler created the Ministry for Church Affairs. One of his goals was to bring Evangelical churches under state control.
Daniel 11:31 And there will be arms that will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will actually profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant [feature].
The “arms” were the military forces that the king of the north used in order to fight the king of the south in World War II. On September 1, 1939, Nazi “arms” invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany in order to help Poland. Thus began World War II. Poland collapsed quickly, and soon thereafter, German forces occupied Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. “At the end of 1941,” says The World Book Encyclopedia, “Nazi Germany dominated the continent.”
Even though Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Demarcation, Hitler proceeded to invade Soviet territory on June 22, 1941. This action brought the Soviet Union to the side of Britain. The Soviet army put up strong resistance despite spectacular early advances of the German forces. On December 6, 1941, the German army actually suffered defeat at Moscow. The following day, Germany’s ally Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Learning of this, Hitler told his aides: “Now it is impossible for us to lose the war.” On December 11 he rashly declared war on the United States. But he underestimated the strength of both the Soviet Union and the United States. With the Soviet army attacking from the east and British and American forces closing in from the west, the tide soon turned against Hitler. German forces began losing territory after territory. Following Hitler’s suicide, Germany surrendered to the Allies, on May 7, 1945.
“They [Nazi arms] will actually profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the constant feature,” said the angel. In ancient Judah the sanctuary was part of the temple in Jerusalem. However, when the Jews rejected Jesus, Jehovah rejected them and their temple. (Matthew 23:37–24:2) Since the first century C.E., Jehovah’s temple has actually been a spiritual one, with its holy of holies in the heavens and with a spiritual courtyard on earth, in which the anointed brothers of Jesus, the High Priest, serve. From the 1930’s onward, the “great crowd” have worshiped in association with the anointed remnant and are therefore said to serve ‘in God’s temple.’ (Revelation 7:9, 15; 11:1, 2; Hebrews 9:11, 12, 24) In lands under his control, the king of the north profaned the earthly courtyard of the temple by relentlessly persecuting the anointed remnant and their companions. So severe was the persecution that “the constant feature”—the public sacrifice of praise to Jehovah’s name—was removed. (Hebrews 13:15) Despite horrible suffering, however, faithful anointed Christians together with the “other sheep” kept on preaching during World War II.—John 10:16.
“And they will certainly put in place the disgusting thing that is causing desolation.
Jesus had also spoken of “the disgusting thing.” In the first century, it proved to be the Roman army that came to Jerusalem in 66 C.E. to put down Jewish rebellion.—Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27.
What “disgusting thing” has been “put in place” in modern times? Apparently, it is a “disgusting” counterfeit of God’s Kingdom. This was the League of Nations, the scarlet-colored wild beast that went into the abyss, or ceased to exist as a world-peace organization, when World War II erupted. (Revelation 17:8) “The wild beast,” however, was “to ascend out of the abyss.” This it did when the United Nations, with 50 member nations including the former Soviet Union, was established on October 24, 1945.
Thus “the disgusting thing” foretold by the angel—the United Nations—was put in place.
Germany had been a leading enemy of the king of the south during both world wars and had occupied the position of the king of the north.
Daniel 11:32 “And those who are acting wickedly against [the] covenant, he will lead into apostasy by means of smooth words. But as regards the people who are knowing their God, they will prevail and act effectively. 33 And as regards those having insight among the people, they will impart understanding to the many. And they will certainly be made to stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plundering, for [some] days.
The ones “acting wickedly against the covenant” can only be the leaders of Christendom, who claim to be Christian but by their actions profane the very name of Christianity. In his book Religion in the Soviet Union, Walter Kolarz says: “[During the second world war] the Soviet Government made an effort to enlist the material and moral assistance of the Churches for the defence of the motherland.” After the war church leaders tried to maintain that friendship, despite the atheistic policy of the power that was now the king of the north. Thus, Christendom became more than ever a part of this world—a disgusting apostasy in Jehovah’s eyes.—John 17:16; James 4:4.
What of genuine Christians—“the people who are knowing their God” and “those having insight”? Although they were properly “in subjection to the superior authorities,” Christians living under the rulership of the king of the north were not a part of this world. (Romans 13:1; John 18:36) Careful to pay back “Caesar’s things to Caesar,” they also gave “God’s things to God.” (Matthew 22:21) Because of this, their integrity was challenged.—2 Timothy 3:12.
As a result, true Christians both ‘stumbled’ and ‘prevailed.’
Daniel 11:34 But when they are made to stumble they will be helped with a little help;
The triumph of the king of the south in the second world war had resulted in some relief for Christians living under the rival king. (Compare Revelation 12:15, 16.) Similarly, those who were persecuted by the successor king experienced relief from time to time. As the Cold War wound down, many leaders came to realize that faithful Christians are no threat and thus granted them legal recognition. Help came, too, from the swelling numbers of the great crowd, who responded to the faithful preaching of the anointed ones and helped them.—Matthew 25:34-40.
and many will certainly join themselves to them by means of smoothness.
A considerable number showed an interest in the truth but were not willing to make a dedication to God. Yet others who seemed to accept the good news were really spies for the authorities. A report from one land reads: “Some of these unscrupulous characters were avowed Communists who had crept into the Lord’s organization, made a great display of zeal, and had even been appointed to high positions of service.”
Daniel 11:35 And some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and to do a whitening, until the time of [the] end; because it is yet for the time appointed.
The infiltrators caused some faithful ones to fall into the hands of the authorities. Jehovah allowed such things to happen for a refining and a cleansing of his people. Just as Jesus “learned obedience from the things he suffered,” so these faithful ones learned endurance from the testing of their faith. (Hebrews 5:8; James 1:2, 3; compare Malachi 3:3.) They are thus ‘refined, cleansed, and whitened.’
Jehovah’s people were to experience stumbling and refining “until the time of the end.” Of course, they expect to be persecuted until the end of this wicked system of things. However, the cleansing and whitening of God’s people as a result of the intrusion from the king of the north was “for the time appointed.” Hence,“the time of the end” must relate to the end of the period of time needed for God’s people to be refined while enduring the assault of the king of the north. The stumbling evidently ended at the time appointed by Jehovah.
Daniel 11:36 “And the king will actually do according to his own will, and he will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god; and against the God of gods he will speak marvelous things. And he will certainly prove successful until [the] denunciation will have come to a finish; because the thing decided upon must be done. 37 And to the God of his fathers he will give no consideration; and to the desire of women and to every other god he will give no consideration, but over everyone he will magnify himself.
Fulfilling these prophetic words, the king of the north rejected “the God of his fathers,” such as the Trinitarian divinity of Christendom. The Communist bloc promoted outright atheism. Thus the king of the north made a god of himself, ‘magnifying himself over everyone.’ Giving no consideration “to the desire of women”—subservient lands, such as North Vietnam, that served as handmaids of his regime—the king acted “according to his own will.”
Daniel 11:38 But to the god of fortresses, in his position he will give glory; and to a god that his fathers did not know he will give glory by means of gold and by means of silver and by means of precious stone and by means of desirable things.
In fact, the king of the north placed his trust in modern scientific militarism, “the god of fortresses.” He sought salvation through this “god,” sacrificing enormous wealth on its altar.
Daniel 11:39 And he will act effectively against the most fortified strongholds, along with a foreign god. Whoever has given [him] recognition he will make abound with glory, and he will actually make them rule among many; and [the] ground he will apportion out for a price.
Trusting in his militaristic “foreign god,” the king of the north acted most “effectively,” proving to be a formidable military power in “the last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1) Those who supported his ideology were rewarded with political, financial, and sometimes military support
Daniel 11:40 “And in the time of [the] end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing,
After the first world war, the punitive peace treaty imposed upon the then king of the north—Germany—was surely “a pushing,” an incitement to retaliation. After his victory in the second world war, the king of the south targeted fearsome nuclear weapons on his rival and organized against him a powerful military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Concerning NATO’s function, a British historian says: “It was the prime instrument for the ‘containment’ of the USSR, which was now perceived as the principal threat to European peace. Its mission lasted for 40 years, and was carried out with indisputable success.” As the years of the Cold War went by, the “pushing” by the king of the south included high-tech espionage as well as diplomatic and military offensives.
and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through.
The history of the last days has featured the expansionism of the king of the north. During the second world war, the Nazi “king” flooded over his borders into the surrounding lands. At the end of that war, the successor “king” built a powerful empire. During the Cold War, the king of the north fought his rival in proxy wars and insurgencies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He persecuted genuine Christians, hindering—but by no means stopping—their activity. And his military and political offensives brought a number of lands under his control.
Daniel 11:41 He will also actually enter into the land of the Decoration, and there will be many [lands] that will be made to stumble. But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand, E′dom and Mo′ab and the main part of the sons of Am′mon.
In ancient times, Edom, Moab, and Ammon were situated between the domains of the Egyptian king of the south and the Syrian king of the north. In modern times they represent nations and organizations that the king of the north targeted but was unable to bring under his influence.
Daniel 11:42 And he will keep thrusting out his hand against the lands; and as regards the land of Egypt, she will not prove to be an escapee. 43 And he will actually rule over the hidden treasures of the gold and the silver and over all the desirable things of Egypt. And the Lib′y·ans and the E·thi·o′pi·ans will be at his steps.
Even the king of the south, “Egypt,” did not escape the effects of the expansionist policies of the king of the north. For example, the king of the south suffered a notable defeat in Vietnam. And what of “the Libyans and the Ethiopians”? These neighbors of ancient Egypt might well foreshadow nations that are, geographically speaking, neighbors of modern “Egypt” (the king of the south). At times, they have been followers of—‘at the steps of’—the king of the north.
Has the king of the north ruled over ‘the hidden treasures of Egypt’? He has indeed had a powerful influence on the way that the king of the south has used his financial resources. Because of fear of his rival, the king of the south has devoted huge sums to maintaining a formidable army, navy, and air force. To this extent, the king of the north ‘ruled over,’ or controlled, the disposition of the wealth of the king of the south.
Daniel 11:44 “But there will be reports that will disturb him, out of the sunrising and out of the north, and he will certainly go forth in a great rage in order to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. 45 And he will plant his palatial tents between [the] grand sea and the holy mountain of Decoration; and he will have to come all the way to his end, and there will be no helper for him
The rivalry between the king of the north and the king of the south—whether by military, economic, or other means—is nearing its end.
Kings of the North
Seleucid dynasty
Seleucus I Nicator
Antiochus II
Seleucus II
Antiochus III
Seleucus IV
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Roman Empire
Augustus Caesar
Tiberius Caesar
successors to Tiberius
Aurelian
successors to Aurelian
Germanic Empire:
Germany (Nazi)
Communist bloc
undetermined (1993)
King of the South
Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemy I (Ptolemy Lagus)
Ptolemy II
Ptolemy III
Ptolemy IV
Ptolemy V
Ptolemy VI
Cleopatra VII
Queen Zenobia of Palmyra
Britain
Anglo-American World Power:
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