PART 16 PROPHECIES ABOUT WORLD RULERS – WITH CHARTS
TEXT- DANIEL 11:1-45
INTRODUCTION
HERE IN CHAPTER 11 WE FIND THE VISION THAT DANIEL HAD IN THE YEAR
536 BC BY THE TIGRIS RIVER STILL IN PROGRESS AND THE "HEAVENLY MESSENGER" THAT HAD BEEN SENT TO DANIEL DESCRIBING TO HIM SOME VERY IMPORTANT EVENTS THAT WERE GOING TO AFFECT DANIEL'S PEOPLE AND THAT WOULD OCCUR "IN THE LATTER DAYS" AND WOULD PERTAIN "TO THE DAYS YET FUTURE".
THESE EVENTS BEGIN WITH DARIUS THE MEDE (539 BC) AND EXTEND TO THE LAST GREAT WORLD RULER IN THE TIME OF THE END.
CHAPTER 11 CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO BASIC SECTIONS.
VERSES 1-35 DESCRIBE THE MAJOR RULERS OF THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE AND ALSO GIVE US DETAILED INFORMATION CONCERNING MAJOR EVENTS THAT OCCUR AFTER ALEXANDER THE GREAT, CONCLUDING WITH ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES (175-164 BC).
THE EVENTS THAT ARE DESCRIBED IN VERSES 1-35 HAVE ALREADY BEEN FULFILLED AND THROUGH HISTORICAL RECORDS AND ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE VERY ACCURATE AND WERE FULFILLED JUST AS THEY WERE PROPHESIED.
THIS CHAPTER SERVES AS JUST ANOTHER PROOF AMONG THE MANY OTHER PROOFS IN THE BIBLE THAT THE BIBLE IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD AND THAT WHAT GABRIEL TOLD DANIEL IN THIS CHAPTER WAS "THE TRUTH."
AS WE STUDY THIS CHAPTER IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE KEEP IN MIND THAT PROPHECY IS ACCURATE BUT IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY CONTAIN ALL THE DETAILED HISTORY OF THE PERIOD OF TIME THAT IT DEALS WITH.
WITHIN VERSES 1-35 WE WILL BE STUDYING EVENTS THAT OCCURRED OVER A SPAN OF 375 YEARS.
IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO INCLUDE EVERY SINGLE EVENT THAT OCCURRED DURING THIS TIME IN JUST 35 VERSES, BUT WHAT WE HAVE IN THESE VERSES ARE THOSE EVENTS THAT SERVED AS TURNING POINTS IN HISTORY AND THAT AFFECTED THE NATION ISRAEL IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE.
THE SECOND SECTION OF THIS CHAPTER IS VERSES 36-45 AND DEALS WITH THE LAST GREAT WORLD RULER WHO WILL BE IN POWER WHEN CHRIST RETURNS TO EARTH THE SECOND TIME.
THIS SECTION OF PROPHECY HAS NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED AND DEALS WITH "THE LATTER DAYS."
THIS SECTION TELLS US ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ANTI-CHRIST, SOME OF HIS CHARACTERISTICS AND ALSO HIS DEALINGS WITH THE NATION OF ISRAEL.