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THE KINGS OF THE NORTH
AND SOUTH

Chapter 11:2 to 35

We read in 2 Peter 1:19-21 that prophecy is like a light that shines in a dark place, that no prophecy of Scripture is a personal interpretation of any person, nor does it come from the will of man, but it is God's expression through men moved by the Holy Spirit: this naturally includes the prophecies in the Book of Daniel.

The prophecies found in this passage, from verses 2 to 23, were in the future when they were received and transcribed by Daniel, yet are being fulfilled with exactitude since his time until now, proving that the prophecies of the Bible are true accounts of future events (The Scripture of Truth, ch. 10:21), for they go into details that only God, omniscient, knows. As they were fulfilled to the letter, we learn that this is how we must understand all the prophecies of the Bible. This also gives us an undeniable proof of the divine inspiration of the Bible.

We'll now see how these prophecies were fulfilled:

• "Three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece" (v.2). The three kings were Ahasuerus (Cambyses), Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smerdis) and Darius (Darius Hystaspes); the fourth was Xerxes, who applied part of the fortune he inherited from his father in gathering a large army, which invaded Greece in 480 BC, but without success.

• "Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these." (v. 3 and 4). This was king Alexander the Great of Greece, who conquered the whole Middle East region. When he died, still young, his kingdom was divided among his four generals: Cassander (west), Lysimachus (north), Seleucus (east) and Ptolemy (south), the four winds of heaven. No descendants of Alexander came to power, and his whole family became extinct within fifteen years after his death.

• "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion." (verse. 5). From here the prophecy is limited to the kingdoms that had a direct influence over the land of Israel: the kingdom of Seleucus (king of the north) and Ptolemy (king of the south), and "king of the north" and "king of the south" does not refers to them only, but to the head of government of the time. In this verse the "king of the south" was Ptolemy I, and "one of his princes" was Seleucus I Nicator, his protege, whose kingdom grew, going from Israel to as far as India, much greater than that of Ptolemy I.

• "And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. "(verse 6). Ptolemy II gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus I (successor of Seleucus), but Antiochus abandoned her in favour of his ex-wife Laodice, when Ptolemy died. Laodice poisoned Antiochus and persuaded his son Seleucus Calin, his successor, to murder Berenice and her son.

• "But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North." (verses 7 and 8). Berenice's brother Ptolemy III invaded Syria in 246 BC, ran Laodice, and returned to Egypt with much spoil including many idols and sacred objects made of precious metals.

• "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife. And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment." (verses 9 to 13). Here is a description of the battles that occurred between the Seleucids (king of the north) and the Ptolemies (king of the south), between 223 and 200 BC

• "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall." (verse 14). This was followed by conspiracies and seditions against the Ptolemies. The Jews who exploited their own people ("violent men" - thus fulfilling prophecies about the suffering of the Jews) were in turn persecuted by Antiochus III, the Great.

• "So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power. "He 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 to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him. After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle" (verses 15-20). Antiochus the Great defeated the Egyptian army in Sidon, signed a treaty with Ptolemy V and gave him his daughter to wife. He annexed the coast of Asia Minor and tried unsuccessfully to invade Greece. He was defeated by the Romans in the battle of Magnesia (190 BC), forced to pay them tribute, dying shortly afterwards. His son, Seleucus IV succeeded him, throwing heavy taxes on the people of Israel to pay tribute. His taskmaster, Heliodorus, seized the treasures of the temple, but a few days later Seleucus IV died, poisoned.

• "And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue. With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time. "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 devise plans against him. Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land. "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage." So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (verses 21-32). His youngest son, unprincipled, cruel and immoral, by intrigues seized the throne, which was given to his nephew, Demetrius, and with the help of allies crushed the forces that supported him, becoming his successor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-174 BC). He betrayed his closest ally Eumenes, King of Pergamon, and his brother Attalus, and persuaded the Romans to recognize him by falsehood. With a small army, he drew a rich booty of the richest provinces, and was generous to his friends. He organized several military expeditions against Egypt, usually successfully, but failed to take Alexandria. He vented his anger against Israel, killing 40,000 of its inhabitants, selling many as slaves and stole the temple. When he was finally expelled from Egypt by the Romans, from the Island of Cyprus (Chittim), he outlawed the Mosaic ceremonies, organized massacres, persecution and desecration of the temple in Jerusalem. He decreed that his subjects would obey only one religion, he had an idol installed on the altar of the temple and sacrifices of pigs were offered on it. He continued his military campaigns, successfully, in Persia, but was eventually forced to retire to Babylon. Upon learning that the Jews, led by the Maccabees, had promoted a violent revolt in Israel, he died of grief in 164 BC.

• "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time" (verses 33-35). The tribulations of the people of Israel will continue from that time until the "end of time" when the Antichrist will come, and the Great Tribulation of the Jews.

 

R David Jones

2 And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3 Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.
5 "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times.
7 But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail.
8 And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.
9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land.
10 However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
11 "And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy.
12 When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail.
13 For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.
14 "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall.
15 So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist.
16 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
17 "He 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 to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him.
18 After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him.
19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.
21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22 With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.
24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 "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 devise plans against him.
26 Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
27 Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
28 While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29 "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter.
30 For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. "So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34 Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time

Daniel chapter 11 verses 2 to 35