Daniel 11:36-39 “Patterns and Choices”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³⁶And the king will do according to his will and he will exalt himself and he will magnify himself above every god and upon the God of gods. He will speak things being amazing and he will succeed until the fury is accomplished according to what is decreed shall be accomplished. ³⁷And he will not regard upon the gods of his forefathers, nor upon the desire of women, nor will he regard upon any god because he will magnify himself upon all. ³⁸And a god of fortresses he will honor upon his place, and he will honor a god which his forefathers have not known, in gold and in silver and in precious stone and in desirable things. ³⁹And he will do to fortresses of fortresses with a foreign god which he will regard. He will increase glory and he will make them rule in many and [he/they will] divide the land in a price.

As I said at the start of my last post, at this point, commentators differ over whether the angel is still talking about Antiochus Epiphanes or if he has morphed ahead to anticipate the Antichrist himself. After studying almost all the way through the book of Daniel, along with all the other reading and studying of the various prophetical sections of the Bible, I would like to record a number of thoughts I have on the subject.

After all these years, I have come to two observations regarding prophecy. First of all, I am amazed how all the prophecy of the Bible fits together. If we just let it say what it says, we believers have a very thorough outline for the course of human history right into eternity. I feel I have not sufficiently appreciated what a blessing that is. We may not know all the particulars, but we can literally watch history unfold before our eyes and say, “Yup. That’s exactly what the Lord said would happen.”

At the same time, the other thing that amazes me is how cryptic most prophecy is. The passage in front of us is “case in point.” Read it again and ask yourself, “What on earth does this mean?” It seems to me,very often, the overall thrust and meaning of a prophecy can be clear enough, while particular words and phrases are simply baffling. As Jesus said, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe…I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you” (John 14:29; 16:4). “When it does happen…” Prophecy is just cryptic enough that we all should hold our interpretations “with an open hand,” waiting for their fulfillment to reveal for sure what they meant.

Then, I suppose that should have at least two impacts on us. One is to keep us humble. When someone has a different interpretation, I should be “quick to listen and slow to speak.” I need to constantly remind myself that what is “true” is not necessarily my interpretation of prophecy, but rather the Bible itself. In fact, as those “cryptic” passages unfold before our eyes, I need to be quite ready to shuck my preconceived notions and believe what the Lord Himself reveals. I can only say, “God, help me to hang on tightly not to my interpretations, but rather to Your words, whether they make sense or not.”

The second impact should be to drive us to personal study. I need to know His words. Though we may not know what Daniel 11:36-39 means, still we are greatly profited just to know it. As I read books and listen to sermons, I want to know when what they’re saying is true to Scripture. The “test” is not my interpretation, but rather the Scriptures themselves. That is only possible if I actually know the Scriptures – and that can come only from my own personal study and/or reading. It may sound cliché, but we believers need to “know our Bibles” – including prophetical sections that may not appear today to make any sense at all.

Another thought that bears on this passage is this business of the morphing. As I said, at this point, many commentators differ whether this is still about Antiochus or if it has morphed into the Antichrist. I’ve addressed this before, but most exegetes call this sort of thing “types.” They might admit that it is hard to tell whether it is the former or the latter, but they explain the first was a “type” of the last. That is all well and good, but I personally think it’s missing an enormous reality of the Lord’s entire created universe.

This entire Creation is fractal. A fractal is a pattern that repeats itself a million different times, in a million different ways, and on a million different scales. If we have the eyes to see, everywhere we look, we see fractals. When Adam fell, he set about a pattern – his image – which would thereafter define the human race. We all naturally act like Adam. The prayer from the old hymn was “Adam’s image now efface; Stamp Thine image in its place.” One of the Lord’s purposes in saving us is “that we might be conformed to the image of His Son.” Our lives either follow the fractal (pattern) of Adam’s rebellion or that of God’s Son Jesus. The longer I live, the more clearly I realize how all true believers are Jesus people. They may express that in a million different ways, but there’s no mistaking a person who is clearly “like” Jesus.

I could go on and on. Trees are trees. A whole forest is full of trees. We look at each one and say, “That’s a tree.” They are all following a pattern which we recognize as a “tree.” Yet, no two trees are exactly alike, even though they follow that same pattern. Then there are different kinds of trees – oak trees, maple trees, sycamore trees. Although they are all trees, yet there is a different pattern that defines which kind of tree they are. We can go further and notice there are different kinds of oaks – white oaks, and red oaks, and black oaks – still following patterns of their own – yet still all “oaks” and all “trees.” We could even talk about a family “tree.” We call it a tree because it follows that same pattern.

The very logic of life itself is fractal. We exist as and in a world of endlessly repeating patterns. Those are fractals. To say one thing is a “type” of another is to recognize a repeated pattern, but it limits that pattern to those two seemingly similar things. It misses the fact that the fractal is much, much bigger than just one thing being a “type” of another.

When we observe Antiochus and then see so much similarity in who he is and what he does, we shouldn’t be considering whether he is a “type” of the Antichrist; we should be recognizing a fractal. Stop a minute and ask yourself, what is that fractal? What is the pattern they both follow? “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard of things against the God of gods” (v.36). Who does that remind you of? “I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High…” (Isa. 14:13,14).

Both Antiochus and the Antichrist are Satan’s men. They are like their father, the devil. They’re not similar because one is some sort of “type” of the other. They’re similar because they’re both like their father! Then step back and realize that pattern isn’t limited to those two men. It is Satan’s pattern – the pattern of total rebellion against God. They are both examples of what men (and women) become when, like the devil, they purposefully and willfully spit in God’s face.

One of the things that leads me to believe the text has, in fact, morphed ahead to the Antichrist is how commentators struggle, from v.36 to the end of the chapter, trying to say Antiochus fits this description. The fact is he does, but then he doesn’t. Much about him is similar, yet it takes some hermeneutical gymnastics to squeeze him into this mold. Like two oak trees, though they are both oaks and are very similar, and though they follow forever the same distinct fractal pattern, yet they are not the same.  

In II Thes. 2:3,4, Paul says, “Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and man of lawlessness is revealed…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.”

Sound familiar? It should. Anyone who has studied Daniel would say immediately, “It’s the little horn! – the one with “the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully” (7:8). Paul is speaking some two hundred years after Antiochus died and yet speaks of the future. When Jesus spoke of the “Abomination of Desolation,” He specifically referenced the one foretold by Daniel (Matt. 24:15), and, at that time, it was yet future. Even John’s prophecies of Revelation were yet future. All was long after Antiochus was dead. Interestingly, commentators observe that much about the Romans and their destruction of the temple fits “the pattern” of these verses, yet, again, it takes a lot of hermeneutical wiggling to “make them fit.”

Later expositors tried hard to make these passages refer to the Catholic Church and the popes, and to this day, people find them fulfilled in Adolf Hitler and even Barack Obama! How can this be? It is because all these people or situations may fit the pattern in some way or another, yet not quite. As in Paul’s day, though “the spirit of Antichrist” may abound around us, yet, as far as we know, his coming is yet future. One thing you can be assured – when he finally is revealed, if we’re still around and if we know our Bibles, it will be obvious “he’s the man.”

As far as I’m concerned, all of this explains the constant struggle of commentators to see in these passages all sorts of different historical figures who “fit” the pattern, yet don’t. The reason why is because they are all part of the same fractal, the same infinite pattern. Yet, may we all be reminded what pattern it is – the pattern of the father of lies, the devil. It is Satan’s image which permeates this world, with all it’s lies and murder and stealing and rebellion against God. And who is the Antichrist? He is the ultimate, totally unrestrained version of a human being completely yielded to the image of his father, the devil.

I believe it explains much about prophecy to understand fractals and to see that their patterns define the world around us. In fact, if we have the eyes to see, fractals greatly define us. Anyone who knows my family will immediately note that I look like my father and my son looks like me. Much is the same, but, then again, we are not the same. I am me and they are them. Human history proceeds pretty much as it always has. “People eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” Buying and selling, fighting and killing, civilizations rising and falling. It’s all fractals.

If I could end with a practical observation, one of the biggest questions this leaves with each of us is simply this: Who’s image do you want to bear? In this one case, it is your choice – and there are only two. You’ll either bear the image of Jesus or you will bear the image of Satan. This is a fractal world. Most of the fractals you cannot control, but this one you can. Unfortunately, we were born in the default position – Adam’s image, which is ultimately Satan’s. To think we do not have to make a choice is to have already chosen. Romans 10:9 echoes down through the centuries, “That if you will acknowledge Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” “Whosoever will may come.” Having made that choice, each of us will find that “the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace,” a world where the Lord Himself has promised us “a future and a hope.”  To refuse the choice is to already have chosen to live in Satan’s fractal – a world of broken relationships and endless frustration and confusion, a world of constantly dashed hopes, a world of “ever learning, yet never coming to a knowledge of the truth.”

Prophecies are fractal. Our world is fractal. Our lives are fractal. In one case alone, we choose the fractal we’ll live (and die) in. It’s either Jesus or the devil. No other choices.

What have you chosen?

Daniel 11:36-37 “Love of Babies”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³⁶And the king will do according to his will and he will exalt himself and he will magnify himself above every god and upon the God of gods. He will speak things being amazing and he will succeed until the fury is accomplished according to what is decreed shall be accomplished. ³⁷And he will not regard upon the gods of his forefathers, nor upon the desire of women, nor will he regard upon any god because he will magnify himself upon all.

At this point, commentators differ over whether the angel is still talking about Antiochus Epiphanes or if he has morphed ahead to anticipate the Antichrist himself. I will come back to that discussion, but first, I want to note what is a particularly cryptic portion of v. 37. We’re told “He will have no regard for the gods of his forefathers,” then the next phrase is variously translated. The old KJV (and many others) translates it “nor the desire of women.” The NIV translates it “or for the one desired by women,” while others say something like, “or for the God women love.”

The problem, as is often the case in Hebrew (and especially in prophecy), is that Hebrew is a picture language. There are actually only two Hebrew words that make up the phrase, which then explains the wide variety of translations. In Hebrew, you just have to “get the picture.” Things are almost never “spelled out” like we do in English – hence the variety of translations of these two Hebrew words. Notice that the old KJV had to use five words, while the NIV uses up seven! They’re all trying to express “the picture” presented in two simple words.

Just to make life interesting, I’ll throw my own translation/interpretation into the cacophony. What is the picture obviously being presented by these verses? Is it not clearly trying to present to us an extremely unusual man? Especially in the ancient polytheistic world, it would have been unheard of that any man had no regard for the gods of his forefathers. Each nation had their own god, and I’m sure each family only further reinforced that practice. It goes on, in fact, to say he won’t regard any god, but magnifies himself above them all! Especially in that ancient culture, the picture is a man who doesn’t fit anyone’s mold.

Right in the middle of all of this we’re told he’ll also think himself above something like “the desire of women.” As we saw above, that can be translated many ways, but what fits “the picture?” In regard to something to do with “desire” and “women,” what would make him shockingly unusual? …that he would have no desire for women. When was there ever a king who didn’t want a harem? When was there any man who gained riches or power and didn’t immediately use those things to secure to himself a beautiful woman (or women)?

I personally think this person will be shockingly unusual in that he rejects his own people’s “god,” even claiming to be God himself, and that he exhibits absolutely no desire for women. These things (and especially the latter!) would mark him out, so that, knowing this beforehand, believers will have no doubt recognizing him whenever he does appear.

I try to always be warned by John Eadie’s observation, “Interpretations are generally false, in proportion to their ingenuity.” In this case, I am certainly vulnerable to the accusation of ingenuity – since I don’t think I’ve found anyone else who proposes it. However, I also have to study the Bible, know what exactly it does (and doesn’t) say, consider what others suggest, then make my own final decision what makes sense to me. I freely acknowledge that others can draw their own conclusions, especially when we’re all talking about how to translate two Hebrew words and then offer an interpretation of them. So, I may be wrong, but I personally think that the best understanding is that this man will stand out as unusual in that he gains riches and power, then exhibits no desire at all for women.

What I’d like to do now is stray into an excursus which, in my mind, only further reinforces this understanding. Again, I acknowledge that others can differ with me and their thoughts are certainly worthy of consideration, but I offer the following as a man who has been studying the Bible for nearly fifty years.

That thought – “He has no desire for women” – reminds me of I Tim. 4:1-3, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons…They forbid people to marry…”

“They forbid people to marry.” “Things taught by demons” Why would demons forbid people to marry? Because demons hate babies. People are God’s creation. God’s desire is that we should be “fruitful and multiply.” God loves people. God loves babies. In God’s world, He would say, “The more the better!” Satan hates God’s creation. He hates people. If he could, he would kill us all in a heartbeat. Obviously, the Lord won’t let him, so he turns to a thousand other strategies of how to destroy us.

What happens if people don’t marry? One of two things. You either then get no babies, or you have children being born out of wedlock. God’s plan from the very beginning was for one man to marry one woman, to commit themselves to each other for life, then to bring babies into a world where their parents love each other and their parents love them. God’s plan is for children to grow up in a wonderfully secure world of love and nurturing and guidance, where their parents model for them all that a person should be.

I am no psychologist, but I believe the majority of them would say that any other model will be brutal for the children. It is very hard on children to grow up with no father, or in a home where every month or two there is another “man” in the house. Most of the time, they struggle in “step” families. Obviously, in our fallen world, the Lord can help any “family,” but would we not all agree that the Lord’s basic plan is the best for babies?

So Satan and his minions discourage marriage because he hates people and he hates babies. We have before us a man who has “no desire for women.” What would happen if that were true of all men? The entire human race would be extinct in a single generation! In this case, Satan’s man is the ultimate baby hater. Demons would teach people not to marry and Satan’s man has “no desire for women,” precisely because they all hate us humans and they hate babies.

Just to keep my excursus going, if we all understood this, we would understand a LOT of what else goes on in this world. We believers shudder at even the thought of abortions. How could any mother want to kill the baby in her own womb? Why is it that people of faith tend to have more children, while, in a godless society, the birthrate dwindles to nothing? Why is it invariably the case that when a nation forsakes the Lord, the young people stop marrying and just “move in” together? Why is there suddenly an explosion of “single mothers?” Why does the divorce rate skyrocket? Why is there suddenly so much child abuse and neglect? How could America ever become a nation where there is any such thing as child sex trafficking?

Satan hates babies. We live in the very crossfire of a massive but unseen spiritual war. The Bible would tell us, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” And why is that? Because, whether we realize it or not, He is our only hope. “My enemies are too strong for me!” (Ps. 142:6). If we would care at all about our children, about their happiness, about their own futures, then we cannot recognize enough, “We need the Lord!” Without Him, everything about our country, our culture, even our families are doomed to devolve into baby-hating, to providing an environment that destroys our children’s lives, even before they know why. Solving the problem is not about some new government program. We live in the crossfire of a massive, swirling spiritual war!

So, back to our text, Satan’s man is “the exact representation” of his father. What characterizes him is the ultimate attack on the human race – a man with no desire for a woman, when God’s plan was for us to “be fruitful and multiply.” Once again, if only Satan could get all men to that point, the human race would be extinct in a generation and the devil could celebrate the victory of his malevolence.

In this sense, I don’t think it matters exactly who this man is -- what we all need to recognize is that he will be the very picture of evil. When he appears, one of the very unusual qualities he will possess is his complete disinterest in women.

I again allow for the fact we’re trying to understand the meaning of two Hebrew words. Maybe I’m wrong and, even for myself, I would want to simply remember the words which are literally just “nor for the desire of women.” However, I believe my understanding “fits the picture.” Even if I am completely wrong, I hope anyone reading this realizes that what I have written is true. While God loves babies and just wants us to have more, every expression we see of baby and child hating comes straight from the pits of hell. Every expression we see of baby and child hating should only remind us we live in the midst of a spiritual war.

Oh, how dearly we need to pray for our families! Oh, how dearly we need to pray for revival across our country, when the Lord “turns the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers.” In the end, we believers live in the wonderful confidence that “the rock, cut without hands, … will become a huge mountain and fill the whole earth.” However, in the meantime, may we all be the more committed to prayer for our families, our nation, and our world. May we take every opportunity to encourage people to love babies, to build strong families, and do all possible to provide for our children a world that encourages them to worship the true and the living God!

Daniel 11:32-35 “The People Who Know Their God 3”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³²And he will corrupt evil doers of [the] covenant in flatteries, and [the] people ones knowing their God will be strong and do. ³³People being wise will instruct many, and they will be staggered by sword and in flame, in captivity and in spoiling [for] days. ³⁴Those being staggered will be helped [with] a little help and many will join themselves to them in hypocrisy. ³⁵And [some] from ones being wise will be staggered to refine them and to purify and to make white upon [the] time of the end, because yet [will be] to the set time.

During my lifetime, the idea of a “prosperity gospel” has done considerable harm in the Church. I imagine most of us would say, “Yes, that’s right. Those charlatans hurt a lot of people with the idea that the Lord wants to make you rich and happy!” However, I would suggest those ideas are woven deeply in all of our hearts. We just naturally seem to think, “If I’m a Christian, I shouldn’t have to suffer.” Then we would no doubt add, “Well, of course, there will be some suffering, but nothing too bad.” We’re anxious for the world to see that we are just very happy, blessed people.

In this passage, the Lord gives us a dose of reality, if we would just listen. He just said “the people who know their God will instruct many.” Our foolish hearts would then assume that kind of people will be carried along on a wave of adulation and applause. We’re talking about good people here, right? If they truly know their God, they will be very kind, very patient, humble, giving people. Everyone will love them, right? And the Lord will bless them with a sweet, quiet life, right?

What does our passage say? “…for a time, they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.” Reality time. Jesus was the perfect man, and what happened to Him? According to tradition, all of the Apostles were eventually killed with the exception of John, but even he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos in his old age. What did Jesus warn us? “In this world, you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). What did Paul say? “As it is written, ‘For Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’” (Rom. 8:36). That sure doesn’t sound like “prosperity gospel!”

Now I want to go in what may be a very different direction from here. Usually, if we even get on this subject, we’re all left asking ourselves, “How would I do? If I ever faced such awful times, would I be able to stand?” Then we’re supposed to beat ourselves up with the realization that lurking in our hearts is more weakness and cowardice than we’d prefer to admit.

In the real world, it seems to me the vast majority of Christian people do live and die relatively quiet lives. Very few of us are actually martyred for their faith. It could happen. It might happen, but more than likely it won’t. If we would profit from this passage and from Jesus’ words, I would suggest we scale these truths down to the world we actually live in.

What do I mean? The fact is there is little chance that today I will be threatened with martyrdom. However, I will face trouble. Even in small ways, I will be harassed with fears and plagued with all sorts of disappointments, pains, and difficult situations. How often do you and I have to quote to ourselves, “All things work together for good”? Are not all these “troubles” just training grounds for the larger troubles which might come? If you and I don’t learn to trust the Lord through all these lesser troubles, how can we expect to trust Him if we are ever called to face the kinds of horrible trials that some have suffered?

Rather than beating ourselves up about being burned at the stake, let’s ask the Lord to help us not to get irritated at our spouse or kids. Let’s ask Him to help us not to worry over our bills or show our temper at work. I need Him to help me listen and be patient with others even when I’m bone tired or to be kind to the cashier, even if she isn’t nice at all.

Are those not the kinds of “troubles” you and I face every day? Do they not all call for the same decisions of faith? Martyrdom or even cancer or family tragedies are very real possibilities, but is it not true we have plenty of opportunity every day to learn to trust God when it seems life is not what we hoped? And, I would assert again, those days are the training ground for the possibility of true tragedies. “If you have run with the footmen, and they wearied you, how will you contend with horses?” (Jer. 12:5). “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10).

Jesus warned us, “In this world, you will have tribulation,” and this very passage in Daniel teaches us the same – to expect trouble and not to allow in our hearts that discouraging fantasy that, if I’m a Christian, life should be easy.

Then, look too at the passage and be reminded of two things: There is always an end to trials and we can always be assured the Lord is using them to make us better people. Note that verse 29 starts with “at the appointed time,” and verse 35 ends with the same words. “At the appointed time.” What do even those words teach us? That the Lord has His schedule and everything will happen according to that. The forces of evil (whether human or demonic) may seem very powerful, yet they remain completely under the Lord’s control.

Then second, what do we learn the Lord is up to with His people? His plan is that “they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end…” (v.35). Of course, this is just an example of Romans 8:28,29: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose…” And what is that purpose? “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son…”  Once again, we see, God’s purpose is to make you and me better, to make us holy. When sin is gone forever, He’ll give us heaven – perfect love, joy, and peace forever – but, in the meantime, rest assured even the slightest irritation He allows specifically to make us better.

Last of all, notice one more dose of reality. In verse 34, we’re warned, “Many who are not sincere will join them.” One of the greatest discouragements in this world is to know so many people who call themselves Christians, who even occupy positions of importance in our churches, only to be disappointed (and sometimes even shocked) by their un-Christian behaviors. We could write volumes on that subject, but at least let us now be reminded that “the gate is small and the way is narrow, and few are they that find it.” No matter how discouraging people like that may be, let us always remember we were warned it would be true, and what matters is that you and I make sure we’re not part of them. I suspect you and I have no idea how important our lives are – either to discourage others or to raise their spirits and urge them along the right path!

“The people who know their God.” Let each of us not run past this passage in Daniel, but take the time to drink deeply of its wonderful lessons. Though, in this world, we may in fact face terrible trials, we are the people of God…and as Daniel has taught us again and again, “The Most High rules in the lives of men and nations.” Our God is in control and working all things together for the eternal good of His people!

“A good person will have no fear of bad news,

confident in the Lord”

(Psalm 112:7)

 

Daniel 11:32-35 “The People Who Know Their God 2”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³²And he will corrupt evil doers of [the] covenant in flatteries, and [the] people ones knowing their God will be strong and do. ³³People being wise will instruct many, and they will be staggered by sword and in flame, in captivity and in spoiling [for] days. ³⁴Those being staggered will be helped [with] a little help and many will join themselves to them in hypocrisy. ³⁵And [some] from ones being wise will be staggered to refine them and to purify and to make white upon [the] time of the end, because yet [will be] to the set time.

As we’re observing Daniel’s “people who know their God,” there is yet much to learn from these few simple verses. First of all, isn’t it interesting to remind ourselves it is the angel speaking in these verses? He is the one who actually calls us “the people who know their God.” Wow. Here is a perfect, holy angel. Once again, I can’t even imagine what we must look like to him. He sees us in all our struggles. He sees the numberless ways we fail God all day every day. He sees our rebellion, all the times we cringe in fear when we ought to be trusting. He sees our lust and our laziness. He sees our ignorance. As I’ve said before, I wonder if we even stink!

And yet, this perfect holy angel who stands in the presence of God can look at you and me and call us “the people who know their God!” How can that be? He’s an angel. He truly does “know God.” Surely he can see how far we fall short of even that simple appellation. And yet still he calls us “the people who know their God!” How can that be? I hope we all know the answer: Grace. Here before us is just one more example of an angel showing us the same grace, the same undeserved love and kindness and mercy of Jesus Himself.

For me, somehow I can understand God showing me grace, but it amazes me to think these angels who are even now standing around me actually truly love me – that, like Jesus, they see me in all of my sinfulness and yet look past it all. It’s not as if they do their ministry for me, disgusted and wishing God would give them another assignment, like singing in the heavenly choir. No, they’re glad to do it! They actually love you and me. How amazing God is! Grace flows out of His giant heart and fills heaven itself, all the way to the very angels who are even now protecting you and me. What a day it will be when we join them, finally delivered from our sinfulness and standing beside them, ourselves in their same perfect holiness! What will it be like to meet those who’ve known us best in this world, the ones who were always there, protecting us, helping us? We’ll meet them, learn their name, give them a hug, then get to spend all eternity thanking them!

Then, he says, “Those who are wise will instruct many…” “Those who are wise” could be translated as “ones who understand.” Where does wisdom and understanding come from? From knowing our Bibles. And when we’ve invested time in those Bibles and as we’ve let the Lord teach us, what is an inevitable result? “They will instruct many.” What a hopeful thought! I think I speak for all of us when I would say anytime the Lord teaches me something, there’s that part of me that wants to shout it to the whole world! His love and joy and peace are so wonderful, I look around and wish everyone else could see what He has shown me!

Yet, like probably most of us, I certainly don’t feel like I make much difference. I’m not a Billy Graham. When I even try to tell someone else what God has taught me, I rarely ever walk away with any sense that they understood what I was saying. To put it bluntly, if you’re like me, you probably feel pretty useless. However, verses like this have for many years been my encouragement. As you and I grow to be more like Jesus, even if we don’t know it, the fact is we are “instructing many.” We simply don’t know what the Lord is doing with our example. We don’t know who is watching. We don’t know who the Lord has been drawing.

I would suggest that most of the time we don’t even know the Lord used us. When Jesus says, “When I was naked, you clothed me…,” what do the people on His right ask? “When did we see you naked and clothe you?” Whatever it was they did, they don’t even know they did it! Looking at my own life, that is not hard to understand. I would say the greatest influences in my life have come from people who didn’t know I was watching, and it wasn’t necessarily anything they even said. It was who they were, the way they were. The Lord used a particular man to soften my stony heart so that a short time later He could save me. He was “just” a pipe salesman, but as he hung around our job site I was moved by what a kind, peaceful person he was. Somehow I could tell he was a Christian and it left me wishing I could be like him. But he will only know in heaven that the Lord used him in my heart!

I once became aware of a book that I was quite sure would teach me a lot. I knew it was written like 400 years ago and hard to find (back before the days of the internet). However, I did find it and purchased a copy of my own. In the introduction, the author recorded a prayer that said something like, “Lord, long after my body lies moldering in the grave, may You use this book to help others…” As I read those words, it struck me I was an answer to that prayer! And not only was I an answer, but it was 400 years later! I am quite sure that man would have never dreamed his little book would still be “instructing many” 400 years later!

Those “who are wise” will “instruct many.” There will always be a few people who can actually teach, people who can explain things so that others actually understand and “get it.” However, they will always be the few. The vast majority of believers will forever be us simple people who probably feel useless. To fight that sense of uselessness, may we take passages like this in the Bible and be encouraged to know and believe that God says we will instruct many.

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, 

because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”

 (I Cor. 15:58).

 

Daniel 11:32-35 “The People Who Know Their God 1”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹And a despised one shall stand upon his place and the honor of the kingdom shall not be given to him and he will enter in quietness and he shall seize the kingdom in slipperiness. ²²And the arms of the flood will be overwhelmed from before him and they will be broken and also [the] prince of [the] covenant. ²³And from joining themselves to him, he will make deceit and he will go up and he will be mighty in a few people…²⁹To the appointed time, he will return and he will come to the South and it will not be as the former of the latter, ³⁰And the ships of Kittim will come to him and he will be pained and he will return and he will be enraged upon the holy covenant and he will do and he will return and he will discern upon ones forsaking [the] holy covenant. ³¹And forces from him will stand and they will (intensely) profane the sanctuary of the fortress and they will take away the regular [sacrifice] and they will set the abomination of desolation. ³²And he will corrupt evil doers of [the] covenant in flatteries, and [the] people ones knowing their God will be strong and do. ³³People being wise will instruct many, and they will be staggered by sword and in flame, in captivity and in spoiling [for] days. ³⁴Those being staggered will be helped [with] a little help and many will join themselves to them in hypocrisy. ³⁵And [some] from ones being wise will be staggered to refine them and to purify and to make white upon [the] time of the end, because yet [will be] to the set time.

As we’ve seen throughout the book of Daniel, events on earth are in reality only expressions of that great spiritual battle swirling around us, the battle between good and evil. In the last post, we observed how that battle expresses itself through humans who choose to be evil. We particularly observed that through the life and profound wickedness of Antiochus Epiphanes. In this post, let’s see how that battle expresses itself in the lives of those who choose the good.

In a world awash in deceit, of hating and being hated, in a world where it even seems that evil is winning, who are the people who stand? Verse 32 tells us they are “the people who know their God.” There is much to learn here from them, but first I want to focus on this simple designation the Lord grants them: “the people who know their God.”

These are real born-again people. And what is it that distinguishes them from everyone else? They “know their God.” It would do us all well to pause and ask ourselves, “Is this my faith?” Is my faith about knowing God? Notice it’s not about all the rules and practices of whatever faith group with which we happen to identify. It’s not about whether we attend church or teach Sunday School. It isn’t even about whether or not we claim to be saved. The thing about anyone of these kinds of “faith” is that none of them require a genuine change of heart. None of them necessarily change anything about our real personal relationship with God.

Can you or I make Paul’s simple statement, “I want to know Him…” (Phil. 3:10)? Jesus said, “For this is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God…” (John 17:3). This is eternal life. To know Him. I’m drawn again to the contrast between Mary and Martha. Martha was busy and "troubled," but Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. And what was Jesus’ response when Martha complained? He told her, “You’re stressing about many things, …but Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:41,42).

Real faith doesn’t call us to be busy first of all. Instead, it hears Jesus’ invitation, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…” (Matt. 11:28-30). I love how one man described his devotional time. He said it’s when “Jesus comes to meet with me.” What a wonderful thing it is to just be still in prayer and enjoy the wonder of who God is! It is peace itself to just know Him, to dwell in the infinity of His love and wisdom and justice. It is strength itself to have spent that time with Him and be thus prepared to face the world of our daily lives!

What a wonder to know that 2,200 years ago, the true believers could be recognized as “the people who know their God.” They stood strong in their generation. May you and I be strong because the Lord has done that same wonderful work in your life and mine – to call us into a very real, very personal relationship with him. May you and I be today “the people who know their God.”

Daniel 11:21-35 “The Problem of Deceit”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹And a despised one shall stand upon his place and the honor of the kingdom shall not be given to him and he will enter in quietness and he shall seize the kingdom in slipperiness. ²²And the arms of the flood will be overwhelmed from before him and they will be broken and also [the] prince of [the] covenant. ²³And from joining themselves to him, he will make deceit and he will go up and he will be mighty in a few people…²⁹To the appointed time, he will return and he will come to the South and it will not be as the former of the latter, ³⁰And the ships of Kittim will come to him and he will be pained and he will return and he will be enraged upon the holy covenant and he will do and he will return and he will discern upon ones forsaking [the] holy covenant. ³¹And forces from him will stand and they will (intensely) profane the sanctuary of the fortress and they will take away the regular [sacrifice] and they will set the abomination of desolation. ³²And he will corrupt evil doers of [the] covenant in flatteries, and [the] people ones knowing their God will be strong and do. ³³People being wise will instruct many, and they will be staggered by sword and in flame, in captivity and in spoiling [for] days. ³⁴Those being staggered will be helped [with] a little help and many will join themselves to them in hypocrisy. ³⁵And [some] from ones being wise will be staggered to refine them and to purify and to make white upon [the] time of the end, because yet [will be] to the set time.

As I said in my last blog, there is much to learn by stepping back and seeing what we can learn from what Daniel says in this passage. Commentaries almost unanimously focus on tying historical records to these verses and demonstrate how literally and accurately they were fulfilled by the events surrounding the horrific reign of Antiochus Epiphanes and the legendary resistance of the Jewish people, as led by the Maccabee brothers. I believe it is very instructive for anyone to read such commentaries and even to seek out the Apocryphal books of I and II Maccabees, to read it all and to ponder the lessons it provides. However, since (many, many) others have done exactly that, I prefer to step back and even learn from the bigger picture behind these events.

As I related in that last blog, there is a much larger unseen spiritual battle raging behind even the words of this passage. What you and I must realize is that the battle rages on today just as furiously as it did in Daniel’s day (6^th century BC) and when these verses were first fulfilled (2^nd century BC). One of the things commentators do is to observe that there have definitely been times very similar to these events, then they all need to argue which one exactly these apply to – whether in fact Antiochus Epiphanes or the Roman general Titus or whomever.

I would suggest what they are failing to see is the reason why the events are so similar. It is because the same spiritual battle is raging unseen with the same angelic and demonic forces driving the human actors who just happen to be alive in that generation. Satan was a liar, a thief, and a murderer back then, just the same as he has been in every generation of us humans since the Garden of Eden. Lost people go on “hating and being hated,” and believers go on “putting on the whole armor of God” – one generation after another after another.

All of that is why you and I can step back and learn from this passage to be wise in our own generation. As our Bible tells us, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come” (I Cor. 10:11). “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Let us then hear those warnings, learn from their lessons, and allow the Lord to give us endurance and encouragement!

The next thing I think worthwhile to observe from this passage is the devil’s strategy. Note again and again how he carried Antiochus along. In v.21, we learn Antiochus took the kingdom “when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue.” The word translated “intrigue” is literally the idea of “slipperiness.” It can also be translated “flattery.” In v.23, he acts “deceitfully, and with only a few people he will rise to power.” In v.27, “The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other.” In v.32, we read, “With flattery (same word “slipperiness”) he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant…”

In the last days, Paul warns us, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they believe the lie…” (II Thes. 2:9-11).

What is the obvious current that runs through all of this? Lies, deceit, flattery. It worked in the 2^nd century BC and it will work again in the end. Paul said in II Cor. 2:11, “For we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” What is obviously one of his most powerful devices? Deceit. Deceit worked in the Garden of Eden – “You shall not surely die,” and, as we see in the Bible and in every generation of human history, it still works amazingly well.

It is a good thing for Daniel to remind us we live in a world spinning in deceit. It is one of Satan’s devices and just one more expression of the spiritual battle that rages around us. Paul could say he wasn’t unaware of Satan’s devices. Can we?

Deceit. It actually starts nearer than we think: “The pride of your heart deceives you” (Obadiah 1:3). Our own heart is a deceiver! From there deceit spins away in every direction until it would seem we literally swim in it – like fish in the water. The entire advertising industry runs on deceit and, obviously, it works well. Most politicians are nothing but professional liars – from the very beginning they practice telling people whatever they want to hear, just to get their votes. Sadly, the thronging masses believe them and elect them again and again, in spite of the fact they do nothing they said they would. Then there is false religion. It has always shocked me that anyone goes into ministry, knowing full well they themselves don’t believe it, then deliberately leads people into their same agnosticism and downright atheism.

The biggest problem with deceit is that we don’t know we’re being deceived. Now, there is something inside of me (and I suspect it’s in all of us) where I think to myself, “If I was being deceived, I’d know it.” …Hello? That thought is so ludicrous and illogical it would be laughable if it were not so ultimately fatal. No. I do not know when I’m being deceived. I may be very aware when someone is trying to deceive me – like listening to today’s fake news – but once the deceit has taken hold in my heart I do not know it until I come crashing into the wall of reality in one way or another.

While we’re on the subject, it’s interesting to note the Bible says, “…Adam was not the one deceived, it was the woman who was deceived” (II Tim. 2:14). What do we have here? You have two people who both sinned, but clearly one sinned fully conscious of what he was doing, while his wife was genuinely deceived. They both sinned -- one in conscious willfulness, the other being deceived (tricked) into it. We could argue which is worse, but the bottom line is they both sinned and were expelled from the Garden.

So, in this world, like Adam and Eve, I may sin knowing full well what I’m doing, but sometimes I may be genuinely deceived. In either case, I am accountable for the choice that I made, but clearly there is a difference. I am thinking it is instructive to know this. I’ve certainly never thought of that before. It’s like as if we were fish. One may see the wiggly worm but not see the hook. He truly was deceived into “taking the bait.” In the case of us humans, we have the ability to see the hook, know it’s there, but want the worm, so we bite it anyway. My point is that, in either case, we end up with a hook in our mouth and frying in the devil’s skillet. So, like Adam and Eve, we’re accountable whether we were deceived or just plain stubborn.

So, what are we seeing? In our text, we are seeing that Antiochus came to power and succeeded largely by deceit. However, Daniel is allowing us to see that deceit is not just the human to human problem we face every day. It is rather an immediate expression of that cosmic spiritual battle swirling around us. That battle is, even at this moment, enveloping us in a world seemingly awash in deceit. Our Bible also tells us that problem runs so deep, my own heart joins the enemy: “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” “The heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9).

What hope is there then for you and me? The same hope there was for the people in the horrific days of Antiochus Epiphanes: “The people who know their God shall firmly resist him.” The people who know their God. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life! He said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” In John 17:17, Jesus made the simple statement, “Thy Word is truth.”

In Psalm 119, the psalmist asks, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (v.9). Today we might ask that as, “In a world swirling in deceit and where I myself can make very bad decisions, what will protect me?” The psalmist’s answer is “By living according to Your Word.” Our first line of defense is very, very simple – we need to know our Bibles. That may sound cliché to someone, but what other answer can there be – but to know the Truth? And, as we read and study our Bibles, let us remember from this passage – who were the people who were not deceived? “The people who knew their God.” The more we go to our Bibles, the more we read them as the voice of Jesus speaking directly to us, the more time we spend in prayer actually meeting with Him, the quicker we will be to detect when this world (or even our own heart) is trying to deceive us.

Believers, of all people, should be the first to detect deceit precisely because they know the truth and choose rather to make their daily world swirl in truth, not deceit. To keep my mind swirling in God and in His truth is my defense. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14). “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart to fear Your Name” (Ps. 86:11).

In Daniel 11, we learn of an evil man whose “success” in life was accomplished by deceiving other people. This whole section of Daniel chapters 10-12 show us that battle was much bigger than the man, that rather there were powerful unseen spiritual forces driving him then, and we may be assured those same forces are driving people to do what they do today. I would suggest that knowledge should compel you and me toward at least four responses: First of all, one of our prayers should be “God deliver me from myself.” My own heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, so let me buy from Jesus “salve for my eyes” that I might see the truth. Second, let us be all the more driven to know our Bibles and thus to know our God. Let us literally strive to be “grounded in truth.”

Third, let us realize we live in a world of deceit and may we be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Christians, least of all peoples, should be found “gullible.” And finally, even as we seek not be gullible, let us see the people around us through Jesus’ eyes of compassion. He urges us to be gentle with people, “in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (II Tim. 2:25,26). While we’re trying to be wise, let us never forget what it was to be blind, to be a slave, to live with no hope in a world of deceit. 

 

“Teach me to do Your will,

                  for You are my God;

May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground”

                                                               (Ps. 143:10).

 

Daniel 11:21-35 “Wisely Discerning”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹And a despised one shall stand upon his place and the honor of the kingdom shall not be given to him and he will enter in quietness and he shall seize the kingdom in slipperiness. ²²And the arms of the flood will be overwhelmed from before him and they will be broken and also [the] prince of [the] covenant. ²³And from joining themselves to him, he will make deceit and he will go up and he will be mighty in a few people…²⁹To the appointed time, he will return and he will come to the South and it will not be as the former of the latter, ³⁰And the ships of Kittim will come to him and he will be pained and he will return and he will be enraged upon the holy covenant and he will do and he will return and he will discern upon ones forsaking [the] holy covenant. ³¹And forces from him will stand and they will (intensely) profane the sanctuary of the fortress and they will take away the regular [sacrifice] and they will set the abomination of desolation. ³²And he will corrupt evil doers of [the] covenant in flatteries, and [the] people ones knowing their God will be strong and do. ³³People being wise will instruct many, and they will be staggered by sword and in flame, in captivity and in spoiling [for] days. ³⁴Those being staggered will be helped [with] a little help and many will join themselves to them in hypocrisy. ³⁵And [some] from ones being wise will be staggered to refine them and to purify and to make white upon [the] time of the end, because yet [will be] to the set time.

These verses prophesied very specific details of the Jewish people’s future and were fulfilled in the immediate by the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes in the 2^nd century B.C. They introduce as well the Maccabean revolt (which was recorded in the apocryphal books of I and II Maccabees). If one wishes to study those verse by verse details, there are many, many commentaries which discuss them.

Once again, I would rather step back and see what can be learned from the events as a whole. I would suggest there is a great deal to be learned. What we have before us is, in fact, spiritual warfare. Again and again, Daniel has given us glimpses into the cosmic spiritual battles that are raging unseen around us, with the likes of Michael and Gabriel and other angels fighting against the evil Princes of Persia and Greece. As we have noted before, those battles are all unseen and can only be recognized by faith.

Daniel chapter 11 now shows us how those battles show up in our world, through the lives of people who are guided by those unseen forces, whether for good or for evil. As Paul admonishes us, we need to “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might…for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:10-12).

If we want to speak of good and evil even right now in our day, I’m sure none of us would have any problem putting names and faces on the players! Sometimes we see the battle as between good and evil, but I would suggest most of the time it’s evil on evil. In Titus, Paul describes the people of this world as, “Hating and being hated” (3:3). The Lord destroyed the pre-Flood world in part because He saw “the whole earth was filled with violence” (6:13). On the other hand, sometimes it really is a battle between good and evil.

Consider verses 29 to 35. In verse 29, Antiochus invades the South (Egypt), but ships of Kittim (Rome) oppose him. War, war, war. Lost people fighting and killing to either steal what someone else has or to keep them from it. You might say, “That’s just life,” but, when Antiochus can’t get what he wants, what does he do? He turns back and “vents his fury against the holy covenant (Israel).” He shows favor to who? “Those who forsake the covenant.” History records that he slaughtered thousands of Jewish people and also sold thousands into slavery. He desecrated the temple and set up the “Abomination of Desolation” (probably a statue of Zeus in the temple). And yet we read that “the people who know their God will firmly resist him” (v.32).

So what is it that moves lost people to be constantly killing each other? And why is there this unrelenting hatred against this one small and historically innocent people group – the Jews? And why is it “the people who know their God” are the ones to resist it all? Because it isn’t just about bad people being bad. Daniel is showing us again that there are far greater unseen forces at work in this world. The “people” issues we see are, in reality, just the outworking of that much greater spiritual war raging unseen all around us.

Hmmmmm. Battle, battle, battle. What is going on? – spiritual warfare. Behind the visible, human actors are truly the forces of good and evil. Here in Daniel 11, we read about the evil of this man named Antiochus Epiphanes. The man was a murderer and a liar and a thief. He did tremendous evil to the Jewish people. Who else do we know in the Bible who was a murderer, a liar, and a thief? None other than Satan, himself, yes? Do we all see that Antiochus, as evil as he was, was just a stooge for the devil and his minions? The devil played him like a marionette.

I have said for years, I have no doubt that Adolf Hitler was demon-possessed. It is estimated that over 20 million people died between 1933 and 1945 due to his evil. All over the world today, there are people so evil, you’d think they were literally demons themselves. Too many of them find their way into government, whether ours or any other nation’s. They show up in positions both high and low. Sometimes they are simply the thugs who roam the streets, sell their drugs, traffic helpless children, and do so much other evil. Or they may be those who weasel their way into good churches, good organizations, and good companies only to sow discord, to turn people against each other, and to finally destroy whatever good was ever there.

However, let us ask again, what is going on? The question, in fact, is, what is really going on? Daniel is allowing us to see what is really going on and that is this cosmic spiritual battle. One of the griefs I’ve observed in life is to see some evil person finally taken out, only to soon realize someone else just as evil (or worse) takes their place. I find it enlightening to understand from Daniel why this is true. We humans are mortal, with one generation following another. People live and die, but the forces that are truly driving the events of this world do not die. The same Prince of Persia is today driving the exceeding evil of that nation which today we call Iran. Is it any surprise that Iran is the worldwide source of terrorism? They, as a nation, have always been and continue to be driven by no less than a very powerful demon, the Prince of Persia. Just like him, they are of their father the devil, and the lust of their father they will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…and so, they are too.

On the other hand, why are there so many truly good people in this world? They may be comparatively few (the Lord warned us the gate was narrow), but they are always there, in every generation. Is it not because the Michaels and the Gabriels are also still there? In the unseen world, as Elijah showed his servant, “they that are for us are more than those who are against us.”

All of this is why I have no problem stepping back to see what we can learn to help us in our world today. The human names and faces may be constantly changing, but it is all really just the outworking of that same massive spiritual battle which rages on even while one generation of humans turns into another and another and another.

And so, what do we learn? First of all, you and I must choose to “see” by faith the battle. That is a choice we must deliberately make. As we live our lives and especially as we pray, we need to look above the names and faces, look past the fearful, threatening people, and even look past those amazing people who are the spiritual giants of our generation, and see it is all just the outworking of a great spiritual battle which will rage on and on until Jesus finally puts an end to it forever.

Let us not be too distraught by the evil we see in our day, nor put too much of our faith in those spiritual giants who happen to be present right now in our world. Daniel called our God “the Ancient of Days,” and the very fact that he can record prophesies that stretch out thousands of years into his future, is proof that, as he also has taught us, “the Most High rules in the nations of men.”

We’re told in the book of Hebrews that “strong meat belongs to them who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern good and evil” (5:14). Let us then put to use the knowledge faith has given us, that we might wisely discern the good and the evil, and then may we be, in fact, “the people who know their God.” May our wise discernment move us to truly “Put on the whole armor of God,” to pray more passionately, and may those prayers, our lives, and our words be used of the Lord “to instruct many.”