SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/5/2014 8:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The kings of the North & South PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 11:10-19
Message of the verses: We will pick up from where we left off yesterday from the 11th chapter of Daniel.
Ptolemy IV Philopater and Antiochus III the Great (Daniel 11:10-19): “10 "His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress. 11 “The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former. 12 “When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13 “For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment. 14 "Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down. 15 "Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16 "But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17 "He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side. 18 “Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn. 19 “So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more. 20 "Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.”
I have to admit that the 11th chapter of Daniel, at least the first part of it has been a mystery to me. This portion has already been fulfilled and so all we have to do is to look into the history books to see that what Daniel wrote in these verses, (actually it was Gabriel who told Daniel what to write), and we will see the fulfillment of these verses. With this said I think the best thing for me to do is to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s book in order to get the most out of this text.
“The sons of Seleucus II were Seleucus III, who was a successful general but was killed in battle, and Antiochus III the Great, who carried out the Syrian military program with great skill. He regained lost territory from Egypt, but in 217 the Egyptian army defeated the Syrians. This didn’t stop Antiochus, for he took his army east and got as far as India.
“In 201, Antiochus mustered another large army, joined forces with Philip V of Macedon, and headed for Egypt (vs. 13-16), where he won a great victory against Ptolemy V Epiphanes. Contrary to God’s law, but in fulfillment of the prophecies (vision), some of the Jews in Palestine joined with Antiochus, hoping to break free of Egyptian control; but their revolt was crushed (v. 14). Antiochus not only conquered Egypt and Sidon (v. 15), but also ‘the glorious land’ of Palestine (v. 16).
“Once again marriage enters the scene. Antiochus offered to negotiate with the Egyptian leaders to marry his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy V, who was seven years old at the time! He hoped that his daughter would undermine the Egyptian government from within and use her position to help him take over. However, Cleopatra was loyal to her husband, so the marriage stratagem didn’t succeed.
“Antiochus decided to attack Greece but was defeated at Thermopylae (191) and Magnesia (189). The ‘prince of his own behalf’ (v.18) was the Roman consul and general Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiatieus who led the Roman and Greek forces to victory over Antiochus. At an earlier meeting, Antiochus had insulged the Roman general, but the Romans had the last word. The Syrian leader died in 187 and his successor was his son Seleucus IV Philopator, who oppressed the Jewish people by raising taxes so he could pay tribute to Rome. Shortly after he sent his treasurer Heliodorus to plunder the Jewish temple, Seleucus Philopator suddenly died (probably poisoned), thus fulfilling verse 20. This opened the way for the wicked Antiochus Epiphanes to seize the throne.
“As you review the history of the relationship between Egypt and Syria, and the family relationships among the Seleucids, you can’t help but realize that human nature hasn’t changed over these thousands of years. The ancient world had its share of intrigue, political deception, violence, greed, and war. The lust for power and wealth drove men and women to violate human rights and break divine laws, to go to any length to get what they wanted. The slaughtered thousands of innocent people, plundered the helpless, and even killed their own relatives, just to wear a crown or sit on a throne.
“While God is not responsible for the evil that men and women have done in the name of government and religion, He is still the Lord of history and continues to work out His plans for mankind. Studying the evil deeds of past rulers could make us cynical, but we must remember that one day ‘the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’ (Hab. 2:14)”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: People have a difficult time in understanding why evil happens on this earth. While reading a book on the Attributes of God the author makes a statement that when you learn one of the attributes of God as it is presented in Scripture you have to accept it, for it is the Word of God. Accepting that God is love is not as difficult as accepting that another of God’s attributes is wrath and another is justice, and these are more difficult to accept, but just as true. God is the God who controls history, but He never promotes evil, for God is good. Man is the one who has fallen into sin as we see in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, so it is man who promotes evil.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question: “He was stoned and left for dead” (Acts 14:19).
Today’s Bible Question: “Where did the evil spirits go that Jesus cast out of a man?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/5/2014 9:20 AM
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