DANIEL 2
Condensed and revised from
Daniel and the Revelation
by Uriah Smith
Let’s hope that when her son was young, she called him by a shorter name than the one he’d been given.
“Come in, Neb – supper’s ready! – Neb?”
But his full name? “Come now, Neb-u-chad-nezz-ar – time to eat!”
Whatever his mother may have called him, when he grew up, people far and wide would know his full name…and plus: King Nebuchadnezzar the Great: Ruler over the mighty kingdom of Babylon.
The story of Nebuchadnezzar’s enormous image (see the front cover) is found in the second chapter of Daniel—one of the Old Testament books of the Bible.
This booklet you’re looking at will at first take a close look at this chapter, revealing the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s image, followed by a brief explanation of the last six verses of the 11th chapter of Daniel.
The interpretation for these two chapters comes from a book written in the late 1800s—Daniel and the Revelation, by Uriah Smith. The book sold over a million copies in several languages, and it is still considered one of the all-time best-selling commentaries on these apocalyptic books of the Bible.
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
Sleepless in Babylon! The king’s dreams left him fatigued and uneasy. But in God’s providence, Daniel’s attention would soon be brought to focus on the meaning of the king’s anxiety-provoking dreams.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
The magicians used superstitious rites and the ceremonies of fortune tellers and other occultic practioners. Sorcerers were those who communicated with evil spirits, who impersonated the dead.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.
Note: The “dream interpreters” spoke to the king in Syriac, a dialect of the Chaldean language used by the educated and cultured classes. From this point to the end of chapter 7, the record continues in Chaldean.
These men seem to have been thoroughly schooled in the art of drawing out sufficient information to form a basis for some shrewd calculation or of framing their answers so ambiguously that their prediction would be equally applicable no matter how things turned out. So, true to their cunning instincts, they called on the king to make known to them his dream. Armed with this information, they could easily agree on some interpretation which would not endanger their reputation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6 But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore show me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. 7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
Some have criticized Nebuchadnezzar as acting the part of a heartless, unreasonable tyrant. But what did these magicians profess to be able to do? To reveal hidden things, to foretell future events, to make known mysteries entirely beyond human foresight and penetration, and to do all this by the aid of supernatural agencies. If, then, their claim was worth anything, could they not make known to the king what he had dreamed? They certainly could. And if they were able, knowing the dream, to give a reliable interpretation, would they not also be able to make known the dream itself when it had gone from the king? Certainly, if there were any virtue in their pretended communication with the other world. There was therefore nothing unjust in Nebuchadnezzar’s demand that they should make known his dream.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
In this story we see God’s providence at work. It was providential that the dream of the king impressed him so much that, though he was full of anxiety about it, he could not remember what it was. This led to the complete exposure of the false system of the magicians and other pagan teachers. It was also remarkable that Daniel and his companions were not consulted at all in this matter. But, in this, God was also at work, for, had the king called on Daniel at first and had Daniel at once made known the dream, the magicians would not have been put to the test. So, God let the astrologers and magicians try and ignominiously fail, even under the penalty of death, that God’s name might be honored. Third, Daniel knew nothing about the matter until the executioners came for his arrest. His own life therefore being at stake, he would be led to seek the Lord with all his heart.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.
Daniel had the highest confidence in what had been shown him. He did not first go to the king to see if what had been revealed to him was indeed the king’s dream. Rather, he immediately praised God for having answered his prayer. Although the matter was revealed to Daniel, he did not take honor to himself as if it were by his prayers alone that this thing had been revealed. Instead, he immediately associated his companions with himself and acknowledged the answer to be due as much to their prayers as to his. It was, said he, “what we desired of thee,” and thou hast made it “known unto us.”
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.
Daniel’s first plea was for the wise men of Babylon. “Destroy them not, for the king’s secret is revealed.” Though it was through no merit of theirs that the dream had been revealed, their own confession of utter impotence was humiliation enough for them, and Daniel was anxious that they should have their lives spared. They were saved because there was a man of God among them. And that is how it always is. For the sake of Paul and Silas, all the prisoners in the jail were loosed (Acts 16:26). For the sake of Paul, the lives of all who sailed with him were saved (Acts 27:24). Thus, the wicked are benefited by the presence of the righteous. This is something we all would do well to remember. What saves the world today? For whose sake is it still spared? For the sake of the few righteous persons who are yet left.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Daniel declared plainly that the wise men, the astrologers, the soothsayers, and the magicians could not make known this secret because it was beyond their power. The prophet made known the true God as the only One who is the Revealer of secrets.
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
When traced to their source, all favors, no matter who receives them, are found to be due to the regard God has for His own children. How comprehensive was the work of God in this instance! By this one act of revealing the king’s dream to Daniel, God accomplished several things: (1) He made known to the king the things He desired; (2) He saved His servants who trusted in Him; (3) He brought conspicuously before the Chaldean nation the knowledge of the true God; (4) He poured contempt on the false systems of the soothsayers and magicians; and (5) He honored His own name and exalted His servants in their eyes.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Nebuchadnezzar, practicing the Chaldean religion, was an idolater; so an image would at once command his interest and respect. What mattered most to him were wealth, political power, and his gods. By presenting him with a giant godlike statue made from a variety of precious metals and then revealing to His servant what the dream was and what it meant, God captured this heathen ruler’s attention.
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Below this head of gold was a body composed of inferior metals descending in value, until they reached their basest form in the feet and toes of iron mingled with potter’s clay, delivering the message that earthly greatness and glory will fade and vanish.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
Now opens one of the most incredible summaries of human history ever penned. Eight short verses in the inspired record tell the whole story; yet, that story embraces the history of this world’s pomp and power. Human wisdom has never devised so brief a record that has embraced so much. The finger of God is here. With what interest, as well as astonishment, must the king have listened as the prophet informed him that his kingdom was the golden head of the magnificent image he had seen.
Ancient kings valued their power above all else, and the patron deity to whom they attributed their success was the object upon which they would lavish their richest treasures and bestow their best devotions. Daniel informs the king that, in this case, all these gifts are due to the God of heaven, since He is the one who has given the king his kingdom and made him ruler over everything. This would restrain him from the pride of thinking that he had attained his position by his own power and wisdom and would enlist the gratitude of his heart toward the true God.
Though other nations existed at this time, Babylon was the great and supreme power in the political world. It necessarily eclipsed all else, and Daniel would naturally speak of it as a kingdom ruling over all the earth. All provinces of countries against which Babylon moved at the height of its power were subdued by its arms.
The character of this empire is fittingly indicated by gold—it was the golden kingdom of a golden age. Babylon, its metropolis, towered to a height never reached by any of its successors.
• Situated in the garden of the East;
• laid out in a perfect square sixty miles in circumference, fifteen miles on each side;
• surrounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty-seven feet thick, with a moat, or ditch around this, of equal cubic capacity with the wall itself;
• its two hundred and twenty-five square miles of enclosed surface,
• laid out in luxuriant pleasure-grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnificent dwellings,
• this city, with its sixty miles of moat,
• its sixty miles of outer wall,
• its thirty miles of river wall through its center,
• its hundred and fifty gates of solid brass,
• its hanging gardens, rising terrace above terrace till they equaled in height the walls themselves,
• its temple of Belus, three miles in circumference,
• its two royal palaces, one three and a half and the other eight miles in circumference,
• with its subterranean tunnel under the River Euphrates connecting these two palaces,
• its perfect arrangement for convenience, ornament, and defense, and its unlimited resources;
• this city, containing in itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world,
• was itself another and still mightier wonder.
Never before had the earth seen a city like it; never since has it seen its equal. And there, with the whole earth prostrate at her feet, a queen in peerless grandeur, drawing from the pen of inspiration itself this glowing title—“the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency”—sat this city, fit capital of that kingdom which constituted the golden head of this great historic image. Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar—in the prime of life, bold, vigorous, accomplished—seated upon its throne, when Daniel entered its impregnable walls to serve as a captive for seventy years in its gorgeous palaces.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Just two years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, war broke out between the Babylonians and the Medes. Darius (Dan. 5:31), summoned to his aid his nephew, Cyrus, of the Persian line, in his efforts against the Babylonians. Cyrus laid siege to Babylon, the only city in the entire East that continued holding out against him. The Babylonians—secured within their impregnable walls with provisions on hand for twenty years and enough land within the city to feed the inhabitants and garrison for an indefinite period—scoffed at Cyrus from their lofty walls and derided his seemingly useless efforts to bring them into subjection. Reckoned by any earthly probability or with any means of warfare then known, could that city ever be taken. So they breathed as freely and slept as soundly as if no foe were waiting and watching for their destruction around their beleaguered walls.
But God had decreed that the proud and wicked city should indeed come down from her throne of glory; and when He speaks, no mortal arm can defeat His word. In their very feeling of security lay their danger. Cyrus resolved to accomplish by stratagem what he could not effect by force. Learning of an upcoming annual festival in which the whole city would be given up to drunken carousing, he decided on that day as the time to carry out his plan. There was no entrance for him into that city except where the River Euphrates entered and emerged, passing under the city walls. He decided to make the channel of the river his own highway into the stronghold of his enemy. To do this, the water must be turned aside from its channel through the city.
So, on the evening of the feast day, he commissioned three bodies of soldiers: the first, to turn the river at a given hour into a large artificial lake a short distance above the city; the second, to position themselves at the point where the river entered the city; the third, to take a position fifteen miles below, where the river emerged from the city.
These two latter parties were instructed to enter the channel as soon as they found the river fordable and in the darkness of the night explore their way beneath the walls and press on to the palace of the king, where they were to meet, surprise the palace, slay the guards, and capture or slay the king. Once the water had been channeled into the lake, the river soon became fordable, and the soldiers chosen for that purpose followed its channel into the heart of the city of Babylon.
But all this would have been in vain had not the whole city, on that eventful night, given themselves over to the drunken carousing which Cyrus had counted on. For on each side of the river, through the entire length of the city, were high walls just as thick as the outer walls. In these walls were huge gates of solid brass which were closed and guarded, preventing all entrance from the riverbed to any of the twenty-five streets that crossed the river. If they had been closed at this time, the soldiers of Cyrus might have marched into the city along the river-bed and then marched out again without accomplishing a thing. But in the drunken revelry of that fatal night, these river gates were all left open, and no one saw the Persian soldiers enter. The Babylonians went into their besotted merrymaking subjects of the king of Babylon; they awoke from it as slaves to the king of Persia. “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”—Daniel 5:30, 31.
“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.” The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, is the one which answers to the breast and arms of silver of the great image. It was to be inferior to the preceding kingdom. In what respect inferior? Not in power; for it was its conqueror. Not in extent; for Cyrus subdued all the East from the Aegean Sea to the River Indus and thus erected the most extensive empire that up to that time had ever existed. But it was inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence.
In the ever-changing political kaleidoscope, Grecia (Greece) now comes into the field of vision to be the third of the great universal empires of the earth.
Upon the death of his father, Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great assumed his mantle and began the most successful military campaign this world has ever seen. Beginning with the unification of Grecia, he then moved eastward through the Balkans, conquering wherever he went. Though aware of Alexander’s encroaching military presence, Darius for a time did not take him seriously enough to mount a campaign against him. Alexander finally attacked Persia directly on the field of Arbela and prevailed in the year 331 BC. He continued into India, where, in the year 323 BC, at the age of 32, he died after extensive binge-drinking.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
What kingdom succeeded Grecia in the empire of the world? For the legs of iron denote the fourth kingdom in the series. One kingdom did this, and one only, and that was Rome. It conquered Grecia; it subdued all things; like iron, it broke in pieces and bruised. The historian Gibbon, following the symbolic imagery of Daniel, describes this empire in this way: “The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations or their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.”
At the opening of the Christian era, this empire took in the whole south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey, and Greece, not to speak of its possessions in Asia and Africa. Well, therefore, may Gibbon have said of it: “The empire of the Romans filled the world, and when the empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. … To resist was fatal; and it was impossible to fly.”
It will be noticed that, at first, the kingdom is described, without qualification, as being as strong as iron. This was the period of its strength, during which it has been likened to a mighty Colossus, bestriding the nations, conquering everything and giving laws to the world. But this was not to continue.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
The element of weakness, symbolized by the clay, pertained to the feet as well as to the toes. Rome, before its division into ten kingdoms, lost that iron strength and tenacity that it initially possessed. Luxury, with its accompanying degeneracy—the destroyer of nations as well as of individuals—began to corrode and weaken its iron sinews and thus prepared the way for its subsequent decline into ten kingdoms. The iron legs of the image terminate in feet and toes.
The ten barbarian tribes which invaded the Roman Empire over a span of years and were most instrumental in breaking it up may be enumerated as follows: The Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. The connection between these and some of the modern nations of Europe is still traceable in the names as England, Burgundy, Lombardy, France, etc. Time and again, men have dreamed of welding the nations of modern Europe into one mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried it. Napoleon tried it. More recently, the European Union has tried it. But none have succeeded. A single verse of prophecy was stronger than all their hosts. Their own power was wasted, frittered away, destroyed. But the ten kingdoms did not become one. “Partly strong and partly broken” was the prophetic description. And such, too, has been the historic fact concerning them.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Just as with oil and water, iron and clay do not mix. God said, “They shall not cleave one to another.” The nations that would follow Rome would never fully unite.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
The kings, or kingdoms, in whose days the God of heaven is to set up His kingdom, are evidently those kingdoms which arose out of the Roman Empire—the nations of modern Europe. It waits to be smitten upon the feet by the stone cut out of the mountain without hand, that is, the kingdom of Christ. This is to be accomplished when the Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (See Ps.2:8, 9). In the days of these kings the God of heaven is to set up a kingdom. We have been in the days of these kings for over fifteen centuries, and we are still in their days. So far as this prophecy is concerned, the very next event is the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom. Other prophecies and innumerable signs show unmistakably its immediate proximity. The coming kingdom! This ought to be the all-absorbing topic with the present generation. Reader, are you ready for the event? Are you on terms of friendship with Christ, the coming King? Do you love his character? Are you trying to walk humbly in his footsteps, and obey his teachings?
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
The soothsayers and astrologers waited in silent awe and wonder as Daniel revealed what God had shown him—the future of Babylon and the kingdoms that would follow. For His part, God elevated Daniel and his cohorts to the highest ranks of rulership in Babylon—for as long, that is, as it would last.
Daniel 11
We now focus on a prophecy of future events, clothed not in figures and symbols, as in the vision of Daniel 2, but presented mostly in plain language. Many of the notable events of the world’s history, from the days of Daniel to the end of the world, are here brought to view. We will take a look at the first four verses in order to notice the format of this chapter and how it is to be interpreted, and then we will move immediately to the final six verses.
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 show 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 Greece.
The angel Gabriel is giving Daniel a preview into the future. He begins the prophecy by stating that he had personally helped and strengthened Darius the Mede, in his administration of Babylon. In verse two, Gabriel turns his attention to the kings in Persia—three kings were yet to reign in Persia—referring, doubtless, to the immediate successors of King Cyrus. The fourth king was Xerxes. He was famous for his wealth, a direct fulfillment of the prophecy stating that he should be “far richer than they all.” He was determined to conquer the Greeks; therefore, he set about organizing a mighty army, which Herodotus, the ancient historian, says numbered 5,283,220 men.
The Persian king fought Greece successfully at the famous battle of Thermopylae; but the mighty army was able to overrun the country only when the three hundred brave Spartans who held the pass were betrayed by traitors. Xerxes finally suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Salamis in the year 480 BC, and the Persian army made its way back again to its own country.
It’s amazing to see how the word of God accurately predicted these notable events of history. He wants us to have confidence that He knows what is yet to come on Planet Earth. He is involved in the events of history—it is He who sets up kings and removes kings, as we saw in Daniel 2:21.
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.
Xerxes was the last Persian king to invade Greece; and now the prophecy passes over six minor rulers to introduce the “mighty king”—Alexander the Great. After overthrowing the Persian Empire, Alexander became absolute lord of that territory. His dominion extended to become the largest empire the world had yet known. How well the Bible has described him as “a mighty king … that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will”! But he exhausted his energies in riotous drunkenness, and when he died in 323 B.C., his ambitious and vanity driven projects went into sudden and total eclipse.
The Grecian Empire did not go to Alexander’s sons. Within a few years after his death, all his posterity had fallen victims to the jealousy and ambition of his leading generals, who tore the kingdom into four parts. How short is the transit from the highest pinnacle of earthly glory to the lowest depths of oblivion and death! Alexander’s four leading generals—Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy—took possession of the empire.
Now, before we go any farther in this chapter, notice something: Down to the last detail, the record of history confirms what the Bible predicts—it’s a total match!
We will now skip to verse 40 of Daniel 11. At this point, the prophecy is focusing on the two kingdoms that had emerged from Alexander’s former empire—the king of the north, located in the northern territory of Alexander’s former empire, and the king of the south, located in Egypt, the southern portion of his empire.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
“The time of the end”—when does it begin? In Daniel 11:35 and 12:7-9, the phrase “the time of the end” is equated with the end of the “time, times, and an half.” This is speaking of the 1260 years of Christian persecution, which began in A.D. 538 and ended in 1798 when the pope was taken captive by the French general Berthier.
In verse 40, we see a three-way battle described. So, what significant battle between “the king of the south,” “him,” and “the king of the north,” commenced in the year 1798?
The beginning of the year 1798 found France engaging in immense projects against the English. Napoleon persuaded the Directory that Egypt was the vulnerable point through which to strike at England by intercepting her Eastern trade. Hence, in 1798, Napoleon began his military campaign against the king of the south—Egypt. The verse says that Egypt pushed back, but they were no match for the well-disciplined French troops, and they were defeated.
But then Gabriel informs us that the king of the north gets involved and comes against “him” (France). In 1798, the king of the north was Caliph Selim III of Turkey, ruler of the northern territory of Alexander’s former empire. He declared war on France in 1798. Turkey came against Napoleon “like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships.” England allied itself with Turkey and sent in Lord Nelson’s fleet of ships. The phrase overflow and pass over tells us who prevailed in this battle. History records that the Turks prevailed. Thus, we can be certain that the identity of the pronoun “he” in this verse is the king of the north. This lets us know that the remaining pronouns in this chapter all refer to the king of the north.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land [see Dan. 11:16], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
“He”—Caliph Selim III of Turkey—reclaimed the territory of Palestine, which Napoleon had just taken. Edom, Moab, and Ammon—the territory of Jordan, lying outside the limits of Palestine, south and east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River—were out of the line of march of the Turks from Syria to Egypt, so they escaped the ravages of that campaign.
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Caliph Selim III of Turkey also came against all those who were or might be allies of France, and this included Egypt itself. Egypt desired to be released from the oppressive Turks and the control of Egyptian Mameluke, preferring French rule. But they did “not escape.” The Turks were victorious against France and brought Egypt under Turkish dominion.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
Turkey held “power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt” and forced Egypt to pay the Turkish government a certain amount of gold, silver, and 600,000 measures of corn, along with 400,000 measures of barley. “The Libyans and the Ethiopians” were the unconquered Arabs who sought the friendship of the Turks and were tributary to them.
44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
In this verse, “tidings” are military intelligence reports. This intelligence was coming from two areas, one north of Turkey and the other one to the east. Turkey came to the realization that Russia and Persia were conspiring to invade and conquer them. The Caliph launched a pre-emptive strike against the primary antagonist, Russia. This began the Crimean War, which lasted from 1853 to 1856. The prophecy said that they should go forth with “great fury,” and, when they thus went forth, they were described, in the vernacular of an American writer at the time, as “fighting like devils.” The Turks, with the help of European powers, prevailed against both Russia and Persia.
Now we come to verse 45, the last significant prophecy of Daniel 11 that remains yet to be fulfilled. All the sign posts of the last 44 verses have been leading us down the ages to the very time we are now living. Verse 45 needs our special attention today because immediately after this prophecy is fulfilled, probation ends and Jesus returns to this earth.
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Because this verse is yet to be fulfilled, we can only offer conjecture as to exactly how this prophecy might be fulfilled. Uriah Smith, in his excellent commentary, Daniel and the Revelation, speculated on how it might have been fulfilled in the 1800s. The geopolitical landscape has changed significantly since then. If he were alive today, he would, no doubt, propose a considerably different scenario.
Author John C. Witcombe has taken the identical interpretation that Uriah Smith presents in his book and has updated the application of that interpretation to fit current geopolitical conditions. You can download Witcombe’s book, Jerusalem Caliphate and the Third Jihad, from JerusalemCaliphate.com at no cost. The following is an updated scenario, reflecting what Uriah Smith might have written if he had composed his book in the 21st century:
Daniel 11:45 “And he [the king of the north, the leader of Turkey—the northern division of Alexander’s former empire] shall plant [put in place, or establish] the tabernacles of his palace [his headquarters—a new Islamic Caliphate] between the seas [between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea] in the glorious holy mountain [Jerusalem—Mount of Olives]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”
How will the leader of Turkey come to his end? Consider a possible scenario: Satan, impersonating Christ, will appear as a dazzling being, the likes of whom humans have perhaps only imagined in the movies. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhist, atheists—nearly the entire world—will believe that “Christ” has returned to this earth and will bow before him in worshipful submission. This future event is predicted in the following verse: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Rev. 12:12).
Here is how a prolific writer of the nineteenth century, Ellen White, in commenting on Revelation 12:12, envisioned this great deception, in her book, The Great Controversy:
“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion.”—The Great Controversy, p. 624.
Satan, appearing as Christ, brings an end to the rule of all religious leaders, including the Islamic Caliph who has been ruling Islam from Jerusalem. No Islamic group—not Al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram—will help to sustain the Caliph’s rule, because all, including the Caliph himself, will now be following this false Christ.
Daniel 12:1. And at that time [immediately following the fulfillment of Daniel 11:45, while this false Christ is ruling Planet Earth] shall Michael stand up, the great prince [Christ is our great prince] which stands for the children of your people [probation closes; Christ puts on His royal robes and reigns]: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time [Armageddon, the seven last plagues, and the destruction of the world at the Second Coming—see Rev. 16]: and at that time your people [all of the saints, not just the Jewish Christians] shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.
“A time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation”! Yes, that time is coming—and soon. As this small booklet is being prepared for the publisher, a worldwide viral pandemic is spreading death and misery around the globe. But if we think for a moment that things in our world are in bad shape now, we haven’t seen anything yet!
The urgent question, then, is how can we be delivered from this soon-to-arrive time of trouble? We’ve got to somehow get our names written in that book if we want to be delivered. Let me tell you how to get that done: You’re going to have to buy your way into this book! Did you read that right? Do I have your attention? Read the following carefully—this is the most important point of this booklet.
According to what Jesus Himself taught, you’re going to have to buy your way into this heavenly book: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, that a man found and concealed, and in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44).
Do you get the picture? The “treasure” is free, but the “field” where it lies will cost us everything we have. This “treasure” is the Son of God Himself. And when we have the Son, we have everything we need to survive the future. When we have the Son, we have the love of God in our souls. The Bible says that God is love, and then it defines this love:
“Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous, it does not boast, it does not become conceited, it does not behave dishonorably, it is not selfish, it does not become angry, it does not keep a record of wrongs” (1 Cor. 13:4, 5).
This is not describing most people. Our natures are the polar opposite of this kind of love. We are impatient, unkind, jealous, boastful, conceited, selfish, angry, lustful, and resentful. Fortunately for us, this is the very currency we are to use to purchase this field. It is all we have to bring to the table.
All of us come with these traits of character as standard equipment. And yet this is exactly what is needed to buy the “field” and take possession of the “treasure.” The “treasure” is a free gift to everyone who buys the “field.” If I decide to hold onto my resentment toward someone, I will not have enough to purchase the field. The parable says that he sold everything that he had!
And when we do that—when we give to God all our sin in full surrender to buy the field—He gives to us His character of love as a free gift. That is the hidden “treasure.” And when you receive that gift, God writes your name in His book of life. His gift radically changes us. It replaces anger, jealousy, gluttony, drunkenness, sexual addictions, and pride; it replaces every fallen human trait with God’s righteous love—with His patience, kindness, selflessness, and humility.
This is the whole point of the Bible. “And if I have prophecy and know all the secrets [even explaining Daniel 2 and 11], and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2).
Not only am I nothing, but my name will not be written in the book. I will be totally exposed to the coming crisis, and I will not be delivered out of it. If you are serious about getting and keeping your name written in that book, here are three important books that you need to read in addition to the Bible:
Steps to Christ
The Great Controversy
Daniel and the Revelation.
These books can be downloaded for free at:
For a detailed explanation of Daniel 11:40-45, visit:
Future biblical predictions revealed
Focus on Prophecy
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• Understand the meaning of the Mark of the Beast, the Antichrist, and the Millennium.
