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.”