The Prophecy of Daniel 11:1-4

In the first four verses of Daniel 11 we have a prophecy of the fall of the Medo-Persian Empire and the rise of the Grecian Empire.

Daniel 11:1  Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.

2  And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.

3  And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.

4  And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

The Medo-Persian Empire was in power when Daniel received this prophecy. Two kings of this empire were Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. Daniel tells us that he prospered during the reign of these two kings.

Daniel 6:28  So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

The angel who was speaking to Daniel stated in verse 1 that he “stood to confirm and strengthen” Darius the Mede, who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. as recorded in Daniel 5:31.

Daniel 5:30  In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

31  And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Although it was Cyrus who actually conquered Babylon, he allowed the credit to go to his uncle, Darius the Mede, who reigned for two years after Babylon fell. But we learn from today’s passage that the victory of Darius over Babylon had angelic assistance from heaven. Commenting on this fact Matthew Henry wrote:

“Note, We must acknowledge the hand of God in the strengthening of those that are friends to the church for the service that they are to do it, and confirming them in their good resolutions; herein he uses the ministry of angels more than we are aware of. And the many instances we have known of God’s care of his church formerly encourage us to depend on him in further straits and difficulties.”

The angel announces to Daniel that his mission was to show Daniel the truth. Everything in the prophecy that follows is infallible prophetic truth that has been fulfilled exactly as it was stated.

The passage we are considering today shows us that in addition to Darius the Mede there would arise four more kings in Persia. Those four kings were Cyrus, who reigned alone after Darius, Artaxerxes or Cambyses, Ahasuerus or Darius Hystaspes, and Xerxes. These are the kings of importance whose dealings had a direct bearing on Israel.

Xerxes, the last of these four kings, was far richer than the other Persian kings. Xerxes attempted an invasion of Greece with a huge army fulfilling this prophecy: he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. However, he was shamefully defeated. The following is a citation from The World Book Encyclopedia, 1974, that expounds what happened in this invasion.

“Then he (Xerxes) devoted himself to the conquest of Greece to avenge his father’s defeat at Marathon. Xerxes also wanted to punish the Greeks for their part in the Ionian rebellion. In 483 B.C., he collected perhaps the largest army that had ever been assembled. It included over 180,000 men drawn from all parts of the empire. Xerxes set out with an immense fleet that the Phoenecians had assembled for him. He used a double line of ships to form two bridges across the Hellespont, and cut a canal through the isthmus of Mount Athos Peninsula. In 480 B.C., Xerxes sent his warriors across the Hellespont and invaded Greece. ¶Xerxes won a victory at Thermopylae. He entered Athens and burned all the houses and temples. But in 480 B.C., his fleet was crushed at the Battle of Salamis. Xerxes feared that his supply line would be cut. He returned to Persia, but left a force in Greece under his brother-in-law, Mardonius. The next year, the Greeks defeated Mardonius at Plataea.”

The defeat of Xerxes paved the way for the downfall of the Persian empire and the rise of Greece. The mighty king that stood up and would rule with great dominion was Alexander the Great of Greece. Alexander conquered Persia and incorporated it into his empire. Alexander did according to his will conquering wherever he went and bringing Greek culture to the countries he conquered. At the height of his power Alexander’s dominion extended from the Ionian Sea (the sea separating Italy and Sicily from Albania and Greece) to northern India. So it was a great dominion indeed.

At the zenith of his power, when he stood up, Alexander died in 323 B.C. at the age of 32 and his kingdom was broken so that it did not continue according to the dominion which he ruled. Rather than being left to his posterity, Alexander’s kingdom was principally divided among four of his generals and so it is described as being divided toward the four winds of heaven.

The events prophesied in these first four verses of Daniel 11 were reported in greater detail in the vision given to Daniel in Daniel 8:1-8, 19-22. I cite verses 19-22.

Daniel 8:19  And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

20  The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

21  And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22  Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

In this passage we have it clearly set forth regarding the destruction of the Medo-Persian empire by Alexander the Great of Greece and then the break-up of the Grecian empire into four kingdoms after the death of Alexander.

So in these first four verses of Daniel 11 we have a succinct overview of the history of the world from 539 B.C. to 323 B.C., a space of 216 years, given in advance to Daniel by an angel sent from God. Indeed, the Holy Bible is the word of God!

The Prophecy of Daniel 11: The Fulfillment of Prophecy

Before we launch into the verses of Daniel 11, let us note some things about the prophecy of future events in general, for that is what we will consider as we walk through this chapter.

 

As I noted in the previous article, this prophecy encompasses some 600 years of history from the third year of Cyrus (536-533 B.C.) to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There is no way Daniel could have known about these events of the next 600 years without the Lord, Who knows all things past, present, and future, telling him. The accuracy of the details of this prophecy and their precise fulfillment have led skeptics to hold to a later date for the writing of the book, a date after the events predicted herein.

Commenting on chapters 11 and 12 of Daniel, Philip Mauro wrote:

“Furthermore, upon carefully examining this new communication to Daniel (which occupies chapters XI and XII) it is found to be a complete account, in the form of a continuous historical narrative, of the second period of Jewish national existence, from the reign of Cyrus (when the vision was given) to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. And not only so but─and this is a matter of the deepest interest─the fulfillment of every statement in this long prophetic narrative is found to be recorded in histories of indisputable authenticity, which have come down to our day.” Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation by Philip Mauro

The fulfillment of such prophecies as these is clear proof of the existence, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of the one, true, and living God. The Lord points to His power to declare things in the future before they come to pass as proof that He is God alone.

Isaiah 44:6  Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

7  And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

8  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Isaiah 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

11  Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

In the following passage the Lord challenges the deities of the heathen to predict the future as can He thus showing that He alone is God and not they.

Isaiah 41:21  Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

22  Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.

23  Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

24  Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.

In fact, the Lord foretold things to Israel just so that they could not attribute those things to their idols.

Isaiah 48:3  I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

4  Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5  I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

The fulfillment of prophecies given by God show Him to be omniscient (all-knowing). He must know all the details of the events He foretells else He could not so accurately predict them. Fulfilled prophecy shows God to be omnipotent (all-powerful). He must have all power over all things so as to insure that the events He predicts come to pass as He predicted them. Fulfilled prophecy shows God to be omnipresent (present everywhere). He must be present everywhere to oversee all the details of the events He has foretold will come to pass. If there is one detail the Lord does not know, one detail that He cannot control, or one detail from which He is absent, that one detail could counteract the prophecy and render it a lie.

The prophetic accuracy of the Bible is one of the tests by which we know it to be in truth the word of God.

Deuteronomy 18:21  And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?

22  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Jeremiah 28:9  The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.

If so much as one prophecy of the Bible fails to come to pass, then we can discard the Bible as a fraud and not let anything it says upset us.

Lastly, the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy confirms our faith in the Lord and His word. Jesus said that we would believe when the things He predicted came to pass.

John 13:19  Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

John 14:29  And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

So I begin this consideration of the prophecy of Daniel 11 in the hope that it will not only inform your understanding, but that it will also increase your faith in the veracity and trustworthiness of the Holy Bible.