Daniel 11:36 - 45 Lesson 14

What does the future hold for Israel, Daniel’s people?  This question has been answered in part by the visions that were given to Daniel the prophet and explained to him by a divine messenger.  In our study of Daniel chapter 11, the focus shifts from fulfilled prophecy (verses 2 – 35) to prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled in verse thirty – six.  The verses that follow seem to be describing the final week of the seventy – weeks prophecy determined upon Israel from Daniel 9:24 – 27. 

There are several good reasons for believing that these scriptures refer to a future time that is yet to be fulfilled.  “First, although verses two through thirty-five have been fulfilled clearly and precisely by past historic events, there is nothing from the past that corresponds exactly with the prophecies beginning with verse thirty-six.  Second, other prophetic passages which describe the Antichrist correspond exactly with the description of the king beginning with verse thirty-six.  Third, according to Daniel 12:1 during the time of the king described in Daniel 11:36 – 45 “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.”  Several centuries after Christ gave this revelation to Daniel, He indicated that this unique time of distress would transpire during the time period immediately before His second coming (Matt. 24:21-22, 29-31).  Jesus thereby placed the fulfillment of Daniel 11:36 – 12:3 into the future when Antichrist will rule.”  (Quote from Dr. Renald E. Showers, The Most High God pg 163; The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc. 1982)

In this lesson we will consider the character of the Antichrist and the conflict that he will initiate. 

Read Daniel 11:36 – 45

I.            The Character of the Antichrist  – Dan. 11:36 – 39

1.      How does the will of the king described here differ from the will of Jesus described in John 5:30?  (v.36a)

2.      What does this king think of himself? (v.36b)  See 2 Thess. 2:3 – 4.

3.      What is his response to God? (v.36c) See Revelation 12:5 – 6.

4.      What are we told about the nature of his rebellion; what does he disregard?  (v. 37) 

5.      When man rejects the true God he replaces him with and idol or activity to which he worships with time and money.  What does this king honor as a god? (v. 38)

6.      The Antichrist is the little horn that comes from the ten nation revived Roman empire (Daniel 7:24,25).  He will make war his god.  He will devote himself to the conquest of the world.  He will attack the strongest and win over them.  In what two ways does he reward those who help him in the battle? (v. 39b)

II.             The  Conflict with the Antichrist  – Dan. 11:40 – 44  

7.      When will the king of the south push at him? (v. 40)

8.      What will he do in response to this opposition from the kings of the south and north? (v. 40,41) 

9.      The Antichrist is from the Roman Empire which is west of Israel.  How do the attacks on Israel bring him to the “glorious land”(Israel)? (v.40)  What has happened earlier at the beginning of the 70^th week?  See Daniel 9:27a. 

10.  What will happen to Egypt? (v.42, 43) 

11.  While the Antichrist is taking over Egypt what does he hear? Where does it come from?  (v. 44) Read Ezekiel 38:6 – 12. 

III.            The Crushing of the Antichrist  – Dan. 11: 45  

12.  Where does the Antichrist establish his palace or headquarters? (v.45)

13.  What will happen to him when he has broken his covenant with Israel and sets up himself to rule and be worshipped? (v. 45)  See Revelation 19:11 – 21.      

Conclusion:    The future things we have been studying could become a reality in the very near future.  The hope for us today is to know Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.  Then we can look with joy for the Lord’s return.  Wickedness will have its day, but righteousness will prevail.  Individually, we must respond in faith to the living Lord Jesus.  Are you prepared for the Lord’s return?   

Daniel 11 Lesson 13

“Daniel 10, 11, and 12 all deal with the same vision, and therefore Chapter 11 is a continuation of the previous chapter.  It is a very important chapter because it fills in some of the details of the “seventy” weeks of chapter 9, which specifically concern Daniel’s people, Israel.  It also fills in some of the details of the last three of the four nations symbolized in the multimetallic image of chapter 2 and in the beast of chapter 7.  The very importance of this chapter caused Satan to hinder the angel in coming to give Daniel the answer to his prayer, because this prophecy does concern two of the nations which were all-important in relation to Daniel’s people.  The two nations were Persia and Greece. 

A further notable contribution of this chapter is that it bridges prophetically part of the gap between the Old and New Testaments.  We speak of the inter-testament period between the Old and New Testaments as being a period of silence, which is not exactly accurate.  The inter-testament period was the time of Israel’s greatest travail.  They suffered at the hands of Syria and Egypt.  As these two nations warred against each other, Palestine was caught in the middle as the armies of these two nations seesawed back and forth, up and down, across the land of Israel.”  (J. Vernon McGee –Commentary on Daniel.)

Critics cite chapter 11 as a reason for mistrusting Daniel’s authenticity, because of the amount of prophetic detail, asserting it must have been written after the events as history, rather than as prophecy.  What this really affirms for us is that God is sovereign and omniscient and omnipotent.

Read Daniel 11:1 – 35

I.             Prophecies about Persia – Dan. 11:1 – 2

1.      What did the messenger say he did for Darius? (v. 1)

2.      What details were given concerning Israel’s history under Persia?

II.            Prophecies about Greece – Dan. 11:3 – 4

3.      Who stood up for the realm of Grecia?  How did he rule?  (v. 3)

4.      What happens to his kingdom? (v. 4)

III.            The kings of the north and the south – Dan. 11: 5 – 20

5.      The realm of Grecia is divided into four regions.  What two regions are mentioned in verses 5 & 6?   What countries are being referenced by these kings if Israel is central to the prophecy? 

6.       Egypt to the south and Syria to the north with Israel in the middle are detailed in the prophecy.  What do you see taking place between Egypt and Syria over this period of time? (v. 6 – 15)

7.      What indication is given that Israel will suffer during this period of conflict between Syria and Egypt? (v. 15 – 16)

8.      Keeping in mind that the ultimate concern of Chapter 11 is Israel, verses 2 – 19 were written primarily to take us to verse 20.  The one referred to here as “his” is Antiochus III the Great of Syria, who ruled from 223 to 187 B.C.  His son, Seleucus IV Philopater succeeded his father and reigned from 187 to 175 B.C.  What did this ruler do during his reign? (v. 20)  

IV.            Prophecies about Antiochus Epiphanes and Syria – Dan. 11:21 – 35  

9.      What kind of person takes Seleucus IV Philopater’s place?  (v. 21) 

10.  Historically, this is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, another son of Antiochus III the Great.  He is the “little horn” of Daniel 8:9 – 14.  What method does he use to be accepted by common people? (v. 23, 24) 

11.  Who does this king go to battle with and what takes place at the conference table? (v. 25 – 27)

12.  What are we told about Antiochus Epiphanes, heart toward Israel?  (Israel is God’s covenant people – note “holy covenant” in the verses 28 – 32)  What does he do to weaken the Jewish people? v. 31

13.  What is true about the people that know their God? (v. 32, 33)

14.  What explanation is given for why God allowed this vile person to treat the Jewish people in this way? (v.35)

15.  What indication is there in verse 35 that God has not forsaken Israel?

Conclusion:    “Antiochus Epiphanes was a clear forerunner of the Antichrist.  Just as Antiochus waged war against the Jews, so will the Antichrist wage war against the Jewish people at the end of this age of human history.  Just as Antiochus abominated and desolated the Temple in Jerusalem, so will the Antichrist do to the temple that will be built in Jerusalem at the end of the age.  Just as Antiochus killed those who would not swear their allegiance to him, so will the Antichrist.  Just as Antiochus glorified himself above the God of the Universe (by deeming himself Epiphanes – the “manifestation of God”), so will the Antichrist “exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods” (Dan. 11:36).”  All of chapter 11 was prophecy for Daniel, most of it has been fulfilled.  There is still prophecy to be fulfilled and it will be.  God’s Word Is TRUE!

*  The lesson outline is from Warren Wiersbe – Commentary of Daniel.  Conclusion quote from Marvin J. Rosenthal. 

Daniel 10 - Lesson 11

Adult/Teen Bible Study                                        Lesson 12, Jan 4, 2015

 How is your prayer life?  Have you prayed for anything this week?  Have you ever prayed for anything and wondered why God was taking so long to answer?  James 4:3 tells us that we do not receive answers because we are asking amiss.  But delays in answers to prayer are not always due to our failures or God’s delay in answering.  Sometimes the answers could be delayed because of spiritual warfare.  This is exactly what happened to God’s response to Daniel’s prayers.  

In this lesson we will consider: the dynamic of pursuing God in prayer,  the privilege God extends to us through prayer, and the invisible spiritual perspective that will help us in our Christian life. 

Daniel chapter ten is the preparation and background for the final vision that God gave to Daniel regarding his people and the future events.  We will delve into the final vision in the next lesson.  Let this present lesson teach you principles regarding your own personal walk with God.   

Read Daniel 10:1 -  21

I.             Pursuit – Dan. 10:1 – 3  

1.      What was revealed to Daniel and what does he tell us about it in the first verse of chapter 10? 

2.      What was Daniel doing for three full weeks?  What was his activity during this time? (v. 2, 3)  

3.      What was the purpose for such activity?  See verse 12.  Who initiated this activity? 

II.            Privilege – Dan. 10:4 - 12

4.      When and where did Daniel see the vision? (v. 4)

5.      What was Daniel’s vision of?  (v. 5)  

6.      Who seems to be described here? (v.6)  Compare Revelation 1:13 – 17; 2:18.

7.      Who saw this vision? (v.7, 8)  Who had been deliberately seeking understanding?  What principle might you conclude from these facts? 

8.      What was Daniel’s response to this great vision and the voice? (v.8, 9)

9.      How was Daniel strengthened and encouraged? (v.10 – 12)

III.            Perspective – Dan. 10:13 – 21

10.  What reason does the messenger give for the delay in coming to Daniel? (v. 13) 

11.  What was Daniel to understand about the vision? (v.14)

12.  How was this experience affecting Daniel? (v. 15 – 17)

13.  What exhortation is Daniel given that we can also apply to our lives?  (v. 19)   Compare the following verses:

·    1 John 4:10, 16

·    1 John 4:18

·    2 Peter 1:2; John 14:27

·     Philippians 4:13

14.  What was still taking place in the spiritual realm? (v. 20, 21)

15.  Do Christians today need to be concerned about such things as spiritual battles between good and evil angels?  See Ephesians 6:10 – 13, 18. 

Conclusion:      Could it be that God desires us to be engaged in the battle for righteousness?  Do our prayers have an effect on our ability to serve Him?  Consider the exhortation given in            1 Timothy 2:1 – 3  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.    Are you willing to pay the price necessary to personally seek knowledge and understanding from God?