Rev. David Holwick P Book of Daniel, #10
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 4, 2008
Daniel 11:2-4,21-23,31-38
THE ULTIMATE PROPHECY
I. RUBBING THE CRYSTAL BALL.
A. Actual predictions by intelligent people.
"The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a
novelty, a fad."
-- President of Michigan Savings Bank advising against
investing in Ford Motor Co., 1903.
"No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris."
-- Orville Wright
"A rocket will never be able to leave earth's atmosphere."
-- New York Times, 1936.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously
considered as a means of communication. The device is
inherently of no value to us."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value.
Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for
investment in the radio in the 1920's.
"Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures
after the first six months. People will soon get tired of
staring at a plywood box every night."
-- Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, 1946.
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of
science, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
#4410
B. How well can God predict?
1) Born again Christians take it as an article of faith that
God has not only determined the future of Planet Earth,
he has also revealed important details of the future.
2) Yet when Christians try to pinpoint these details, they
have usually failed miserably.
a) Hal Lindsey, Harold Camping, et. al.
C. The most precise prophecy in the entire Bible.
1) Nobody disputes that Daniel 11 gives a blow-by-blow account
of events in the third- and second-centuries B.C.
a) Alexander the Great is mentioned.
b) Cleopatra.
c) The revolt of the Maccabean Jews.
2) Commentators have differed on some details, but the major
points are agreed upon.
D. Too good to be true?
1) It is so exact, even ancient commentators (pagans) assumed
events were "predicted" after they had already occurred.
a) Scholars call this a "pious fraud."
b) The writer meant well, but he was faking it.
2) Almost all liberal Bible scholars accept this view of Daniel.
E. But God knows the future, and controls the future.
1) Even when our world is in turmoil, we can trust in God.
2) Dark days are coming, but God's kingdom will overcome.
II. I CAN SPARE YOU MOST OF THE DETAILS.
A. Literally dozens of kings and events are predicted.
1) One estimate is that there are 125 specific predictions in
the first 35 verses!
2) The fourth Persian king would be Xerxes. 11:2
3) The mighty king in verse 3 is Alexander the Great.
a) Daniel says "he will do what he pleases" and Alexander's
contemporaries agreed 100%. 11:3
1> It is said that Alexander wept after his final
victory because there was nothing else to
conquer in the world.
b) Despite his accomplishments, Daniel sees that Alexander
operated under God's limitations.
1> In chapter 8, verse 22, Alexander is called a
broken horn.
2> As the verse 4 mentions, he had no surviving heirs,
so his empire was divided between four generals.
B. The essence of this chapter is a struggle between two kingdoms.
1) The northern kingdom is the Seleucids (Syria).
2) The southern kingdom is the Ptolemies (Egypt).
a) Both of them were offshoots of Alexander's empire.
b) Most of the kings were named Antiochus or Ptolemy.
1> You get IIs and IIIs and IVs and so on.
2> I can't keep them straight myself.
III. THE RISE OF AN ESPECIALLY EVIL KING. 11:21
A. The ultimate king of the north - Antiochus IV (Epiphanes).
1) He ruled in Syria from 175 to 164 B.C.
2) He invaded Jerusalem and looted the temple of its treasure.
3) He then attacked the Jewish religion.
a) First he plotted with some of the Greek-oriented Jews
in order to divide them from the more religious ones.
b) Next he attacked the religious Jews.
1> He slaughtered the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
2> He abolished the daily sacrifices.
3> He defiled the sanctuary by setting up a statue of
Zeus. (Or, he slaughtered a pig there.)
4> Daniel calls this "the abomination that causes
desolation." 11:31
c) This is the period known as the Maccabean revolt.
1> Many Jews abandoned their faith, but some
remained true. 11:35
2> One family, the Maccabees, led the revolt that
resulted in Israel's independence, something
they would not experience again until 1948.
3> Their rededication of the temple became the
festival of Hannukah.
B. Beyond Antiochus.
1) Verse 36 seems to go beyond the human Antiochus.
a) The New Testament uses this same language to describe
the Antichrist, the ultimate human enemy of God.
b) Paul's description of him in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 --
"Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that
day will not come until the rebellion occurs
and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the man doomed to destruction.
He will oppose and will exalt himself over
everything that is called God or is worshiped,
so that he sets himself up in God's temple,
proclaiming himself to be God."
2) The events in ch. 11 don't match Antiochus' life here.
a) Liberals - this is because author is really predicting
here and he doesn't get it right.
b) Conservatives - author is predicting distant future,
not of Antiochus, but the Antichrist.
1> The time in view, "that time," seems to be related
to the final resurrection.
2> The solution hinges on our view of God and the
Bible.
C. Fact or fiction? The argument of literary genre.
1) Liberals argue Daniel is a literary fiction.
a) It was not intended to be taken as historical fact.
b) The Bible contains a variety of literary genres.
1> For example, everyone agrees that Jesus' parables
don't have to be taken as historical fact.
2> Liberals apply this principle to the prophetic
books.
A> Prophetic books like Daniel do not describe a
literal future.
B> These things are not going to happen.
According to Robert Anderson, author of one of the
commentaries I used, most early Christian writers
said today's passage was about the Antichrist.
Anderson writes:
"Though this has been a tenacious interpretation
over the centuries, it now has minimal appeal
beyond the circle of some sects....
There would be almost general scholarly agreement
with di Lella that such a view is 'exegetically
witless and religiously worthless'." [1]
2) Conservatives see literary genre abused in Daniel's case.
a) The special pleading is really a denial of supernatural.
b) Inspiration of Scripture itself is at stake.
1> The Virgin Birth, resurrection of Jesus, and other
miracles can also be dismissed as literary genres.
2> But the New Testament treats the supernatural in
Daniel as historical. (cf. Heb 11:33-34)
3> Jesus himself treats the "abomination of desolation"
as a real person and a future event. Matt 24
IV. THE ANTICHRIST IS A KEY FIGURE IN BIBLE PROPHECY.
A. Rather than being "witless and worthless," he is described
by Jesus, Paul, and John (in his letters and Revelation).
B. What Jesus says in Matthew 24:
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put
to death,
and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and
will betray and hate each other,
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then
the end will come.
15 "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the
abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through
the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand--
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from
the beginning of the world until now--and never to be
equaled again.
1) Note the parallels with Daniel 11 - persecution,
apostasy, Antichrist, conflict.
C. John's teaching in Revelation 13:
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and
blasphemies and to exercise his authority for
forty-two months.
6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander
his name and his dwelling place and those who live
in heaven.
7 He was given power to make war against the saints and
to conquer them. And he was given authority over
every tribe, people, language and nation.
8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--
all whose names have not been written in the book
of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain
from the creation of the world.
1) Similar parallels: blasphemy, war against saints,
conflict between evil and good.
V. FEATURES OF THE ANTICHRIST IN DANIEL 11.
A. He strives to be personally autonomous. 11:36
1) Echoes "you will be like God" from Garden of Eden.
2) Our culture values this, too.
a) Individualism, independence.
b) The Bible values dependence on God.
B. He blasphemes God and is cruel to people. 11:36
1) Most of us don't curse God, at least out loud.
2) However, the way we live can have the same effect.
a) In Romans 2, Paul says the corrupt behavior of God's
people causes Gentiles to blaspheme God. Rom 2:24
b) Has YOUR life caused someone else to turn from God?
C. He believes might makes right. 11:38
1) The Antichrist honors "the god of fortresses."
2) As the book of Revelation says about him, "who can make
war with him?"
3) Invincibility is a very big plus for us. It is also
a sham.
a) Evangelical Manifesto on political involvement released
this week - we are depending too much on politics,
neglecting God.
VI. THE ANTICHRIST IS DEFEATED SPIRITUALLY RATHER THAN MILITARILY.
A. In the New Testament, Jesus defeats Antichrist with the
breath of his mouth. 2 Thess 2:8; compare Rev 19:13
1) Even the sword that comes from his mouth (Rev 19) actually
represents the Word of God.
2) The battle of Armageddon is over before it starts and
the Lord Jesus prevails.
B. Prayer, not speculation.
1) For centuries there has been speculation on who the
Antichrist is.
a) A few of the suggestions:
Roman Emperor Nero
Napoleon
Adolph Hitler
Joseph Stalin
John F. Kennedy
Saddam Hussein
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barney the Dinosaur (There are actually websites
devoted to this theory. It has something to do
with the red dragon of Revelation 12.) [2]
b) So far, none of these has panned out.
c) But the identity of the Antichrist is not why the
prophecies in Daniel 11 were revealed.
2) The reason for this chapter is to encourage prayer and trust.
a) It was given in answer to Daniel's prayer.
b) It is an encouragement to our prayer.
1> No matter how dark your life seems, God has not
forgotten you.
2> He has plans for you, and they are good plans.
3> Put your trust in him, and serve him with confidence.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
Much of this outline is derived from Sinclair Ferguson's commentary on
Daniel. [see detailed outline below]
[1] Robert A. Anderson, INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY: SIGNS AND
WONDERS, A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids,
MI, 1984), p. 141. His quote is from di Lella's commentary on
Daniel, page 303.
[2] Dr. Ray Pritchard, "Who is the Antichrist?", pastor of Calvary
Memorial Church; Oak Park, Illinois; Keep Believing Ministries:
http://www.calvarycrossroads.com. Preached March 19, 2000.
Kerux sermon #26429.
#4410 "Lousy Predications From Famous People." Author unknown.
Abe Kudra Collection.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Sinclair Ferguson, MASTERING THE OLD TESTAMENT: DANIEL (Word: 1988)
I. Details in vision are only thinly veiled and there is wide
agreement among commentators about the history to which it points.
A. Major question: can we seriously believe Daniel received it as
prophecy?
1) Liberals almost universally say "no."
a) Daniel was written as a tract for the times, to
encourage Jews during Maccabean persecution.
b) The message is to encourage them that God is the Lord
of history.
2) Conservatives mostly say "yes."
a) If God can deliver from the mouth of lions, he can
predict the future.
b) To say otherwise is to agree with Nebuchadnezzar:
"There is no god who can deliver men." Dan 3:15
B. What is at stake.
1) Does God really rule history, and can he communicate the
future to us?
C. The argument of literary genre.
1) Liberals argue Daniel is a literary fiction and was not
intended to be taken as historical fact.
a) The Bible contains a variety of literary genres.
1> For example, parables are not meant to be taken as
historical fact.
b) Some conservatives have no problem with ascribing
Ecclesiastes to someone other than Solomon.
2) Conservatives see literary genre abused in Daniel's case.
a) The special pleading is really a denial of supernatural.
b) Inspiration of Scripture itself is at stake.
1> Virgin birth, resurrection of Jesus, and other
miracles can also be dismissed as literary
genres.
2> It is important to look at the presuppositions that
underlie the study of genre.
3> The New Testament treats the supernatural in Daniel
as historical. (cf. Heb 11:33-34)
II. How to approach these chapters.
A. Two characteristics of prophecies in Daniel.
1) Focus goes from broad vision of future to zoom in on
details of one specific period.
2) The kingdoms of God and the world are portrayed in a
permanent state of conflict.
a) Visions of intermediate conflict merge into visions
of final conflict. Difficult to untangle.
III. Persia and Greece. 11:2-4
A. Xerxes.
B. Mighty king = Alexander.
1) Contemporaries thought he could do what he wanted.
2) Daniel sees that he operated under God's limitations.
IV. Wars of aggression.
V. Vile person - Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC) and the antichrist.
A. From Syria.
B. Invaded Jerusalem and looted the temple.
C. Plotted with hellenistic Jews, then massacred the city.
1) Sanctuary defiled, daily sacrifices abolished, image of
Zeus was set up. (abomination of desolation)
D. Many Jews apostatized, some did not.
VI. The chapter is more than ancient history.
A. Teaches that studying the Bible is hard work. 2 Tim 2:15
B. Prophecy fills us with reverence for the wonders of God's word.
VII. Four profitable lessons.
A. The kingdoms of the earth will always be unstable.
1) Their gods are also unstable.
B. Antiochus succeeded by plotting with and dividing the Jews.
1) Evil cannot gain a foothold until it finds a foothold among
the people of God.
C. God's people should be encouraged. Evil is doomed to
destruction.
D. God works out his purpose for us in all the circumstances of
life.
VIII. The antichrist.
A. Passage beginning with verse 36 carries on from Antiochus.
1) New character (antichrist) or same old one?
2) But events no longer match Antiochus' life.
a) Liberals - this is because author is really predicting
here and he doesn't get it right.
b) Conservatives - author is predicting distant future,
not of Antiochus, but antichrist.
1> The king in view is more wicked than any figure
in history.
2> The time in view, "that time," seems to be related
to the final resurrection.
B. Two important principles.
1) Daniel did not fully understand the vision. 12:8
2) If Daniel 11 refers to the antichrist, then there will be
many foreshadowings of his character.
a) Many precursors of the antichrist have been taken to
be the final antichrist. cf. 1 Jn 2:18
C. Features of the antichrist in Daniel.
1) His quest for autonomy. 11:36
a) Echoes "you will be like God" from Garden of Eden.
2) His blasphemy and inhumanity. 11:36
3) He believes might makes right. 11:38
D. The progress of the antichrist. 11:41-45
1) Super-literalism is not required here. (chariots, etc.)
a) No need to make them tanks, either.
2) King of the North prevails over the King of the South.
a) His defeat is inauspicious.
b) It is a devastating anticlimax to the progress of evil.
c) In NT, Jesus defeats him with the breath of his mouth.
3) The conflict is spiritual more than military. (Eph 6:10ff)
a) Purpose of chapter is to encourage Daniel to pray.
