Wars and Rumors of The North and South

Daniel 11:1-28

1 "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.) 2 And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 4 And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.

5 "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. 6 And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. 7 But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail. 8 And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.

9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land. 10 However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.

11 "And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. 12 When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail. 13 For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.

14 "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall. 15 So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist. 16 But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.

17 "He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him. 18 After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.

20 "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle. 21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. 24 He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.

25 "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him. 26 Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain. 27 Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time. 28 While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.

The prophecies given in Daniel’s vision continued to tell of battles in heaven and on earth as  time marched on towards the end where final judgment would occur.  It began with Darius being given strength from above until four other kings from Persia would arise and set their sights on Greece.  Following that, another more powerful king would appear with great might and rule until he too would be torn apart and divided to others.  Then the kings of the North and South were to come.  The South would make a treaty with the North before overpowering them and carrying their gods off to Egypt with their princes held captive along with their riches.  The king of the North then would attempt to engage with the South again and fail, causing the South to be enraged and do battle.  The king of the North will fail but build back up to try again later as others rise against the South until the king of the North sieges a city of the South successfully with no opposition.  This one will “stand in the Glorious Land with destruction” meaning in God’s land and probably in or around Jerusalem.  The king of the North will then expand to the coast and fall as he falls back to the north.  Another will arise in power to tax the glorious kingdom but will quickly be destroyed as well.  A vile person will come to take his place without a royal title and use intrigue to succeed.  He also will sweep away those there in God’s sovereign plan and deceive through peace and distribute the booty among others instead of keeping it for himself.  He then will star a war with the South again but will meet with a plan to take him down.  These kings have hearts bent on evil and lies to each other, without honor, and will not prosper because they have an appointed end according to God’s sovereign plan.  The king of the North will return rich but move against the holy covenant and damage his own land in such rebellion against the LORD and His people.  These things were not given merely to review past events but also to trace the working of God in the world in Daniel’s time and to the end of time.  We see the historical figures and nations in these kingdoms, but also a look for to the ending and end of time in the heavenly battles behind the scenes which we call the end times.  Through all these events, past present, and future, we see God’s sovereignty and purpose in predetermining the events and their outcomes.  We therefore can have peace as we study the figures of the past and trust Him in the present tribulations as well as the worsening ones to come.  He is in absolute control of all events and works all things together for good (Romans 8:28) for His purposes and our future hope to follow the end of time.  Why then should we worry or fear in fretting over these end times when we have the answer in the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord?  Why should we be consumed with trying to unravel every detail along the way instead of allowing God to unveil all we need to know as it comes?  May we choose to trust the one who rules over all nations and concern ourselves with the eternal instead of the transitory.  The kingdoms of the North and South are gone and yet might return in prophetic manner, but the kingdom of God is forever (Revelation 12:10) and He will utterly defeat the enemy in the end.  May we lay up treasures there (Matthew 6:19-20) as we live through the rise and fall of the nations around us while we are about our Father’s business of living out and proclaiming the good news of release from captivity to sin and death.