11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
(The "King of the South" is Ptolemy Philopator, who succeeded Ptolemy Euergetes. He fought against the "King of the North" who was Antiochus and both armies set forth a great multitude. The multitude of Antiochus's army [sixty two (some say seventy two) thousand foot soldiers, six thousand horses, and a hundred and two elephants] was given into Philopator's hand.)
12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.
(Antiochus escaped out of his hand and Ptolemy Philopator didn't use his advantage to gain more territory but was contented with recovering his previous holdings.)
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
(After the death of Ptolemy Philopator, Antiochus returned 14 years later and set forth a greater multitude.)
14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
(The king of Egypt, Ptolemy Epiphanes was only five years old. Taking advantage of this, Antiochus king of Syria, and Philip king of Macedon, joined in alliance together, to seize upon his kingdom, and divide it between them. Antiochus began the war in Coelesyria and Phoenicia, and Philip went against Egypt and Samos.
"robbers of thy people": Agathocles and Agathoclea laid a scheme of taking the regency into their hands and were hated by the Egyptians, which caused insurrections and seditions among themselves; and Scopas, a general in the army of the king of Egypt, made a plan to take the government to himself. But they failed.)
15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.
(Antiochus the great came into Coelesyria and Phoenicia and beat Scopas, bringing all the cities that Ptolemy had in Coelesyria into subjection to him; and these are the "most fenced cities" he "cast up a mount" or placed battering engines before them to cast stones into the besieged cities.
"and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand": Noone could stand against the power of Antiochus. When Scopas was beaten by Antiochus at Jordan, he fled to Sidon with ten thousand soldiers, where he was shut up in a close siege; and though Ptolemy sent his hoicest commanders to his relief, Eropus, Menocles and Damoxenus, they were not able to raise the siege, but by famine were forced to surrender; and he and his men were dismissed naked.)
16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.
(Antiochus the Great, who came against Ptolemy king of Egypt, in those parts where he came, did as he pleased, took cities, and disposed of them at his pleasure. He stood in the "glorious land" of Judea and the Jews readily submitted to him.)
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, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him.
(These events are well known. Antiochus collected all his forces with a view to the conquest of Egypt, then, alarmed by the progress of Rome and the overthrow of Philip of Macedon, he changed his plan. He now endeavoured to get Ptolemy to be his ally, and gave him his daughter, Cleopatra to wife. Her dowry was Coele-Syria. His idea was that she would remain always on his side, would be his spy in the court of her husband, and would always lead the policy of Egypt in the lines he wished. His hopes were frustrated. She was not corrupted so as to be false to her husband. In proof of this, when her father's armies were defeated by the Romans, she joined with her husband in sending congratulations to the Senate of Rome.)
18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.
(Antiochus the Great took advantage of the defeat inflicted on Philip of Macedon by the Romans, to seize many of the islands of the archipelago. He took possession of all the Asiatic dominions of Philip, crossed into Europe and seized Thrace. The Romans demanded that he should retire from all the former dominions of Philip. He refused, and war ensued, in which, after being driven out of Europe, he was totally defeated at Magnesia by Lucius Scipio, and compelled to surrender all his dominions west of the Taurus.)
19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
(Deeply in debt for the expenses of the war which Antiochus agreed to pay, he attempted to rob the temple of Jupiter Elymaeus! But, the inhabitants got together, and slew him, with all his soldiers. Antiochus the Great never returned to Syria, but died in the province of Elymais.)
20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
(Seleucus Philopator, the eldest son of Antiochus the Great might well be called a raiser of taxes, being a covetous lover of money above all things who laid heavy taxes on his subjects, to gratify his avarice and also to raise the thousand talents yearly to pay the Romans. He reigned only twelve years and was poisoned to death, so he didn't die in battle.)
Thus ends the fulfilled prophecies in this chapter. It inspires my faith in the unfailing Word of God when I see how accurately in the smallest detail prophecy has been fulfilled throughout history.
Verse 21 of Daniel 11 is the beginning of prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled!
No comments:
Post a Comment