Flux and Stability: Daniel 11:1-20
God is worth our adoration. There are many reasons to agree with this statement. He is our creator. He is our savior. He gives us His Law to show us a way to live. He teaches us right from wrong. He is there to display forgiveness and grace. He is worth our adoration.
The final two chapters in Daniel give us deep detail spoken in an incredibly vague manner. Prophetic literature frequently has this dynamic to it, and there are very divergent approaches for acknowledging the vague depth. Some argue the vague nature makes sense because Daniel wouldn’t know the names anyway and there is no point in being specific. Others argue the message is left intentionally vague, much like a fortune cookie or a horoscope, to make it easier to declare the message true. Regardless, when studying this passage there are plenty of people who point to the vagueness of this passage as cause to doubt its authoritativeness. While I disagree with this assessment, it is worth noting because it is the most common criticism of this passage.
In these last chapters, God essentially outlines the time between Daniel’s present day and Antiochus Epiphanes - and potentially beyond. There are no less than three significant lessons that can be pulled out of this material.
Passing through this passage, notice how frequently Daniel’s messenger talks about one king rising against another. We have an important king in the beginning (Xerxes of Persia) who stirs up Greece. Following him, a great king (Alexander the Great) will take dominion over the known world and do as he pleases. This great king’s domain will be split up upon his death, which points us to the Ptolemaic Empire (kingdom of the south) and the Seleucid Empire (kingdom of the north). Generically speaking, the Ptolemaic kingdom can be thoughts of as Egypt and other parts of North Africa while the Seleucid kingdom is the areas of Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Part of God’s point is how the leadership of the world will always be contentious with one another. The world is embroiled in a perpetual power struggle.
Underneath this greater theme, notice that the heavenly messenger never talks about Jewish autonomy. The Jews will return to the Promised Land, but they will always by under the thumb of someone else. The world won’t leave God’s people alone to worship God.
In the end, though, the greatest point is that God is still sovereign. Kings come and go. Nations come and go. Leader rise and fall. God remains.
The ways of the world are constantly changing. Popular ways of thinking are altered with every generation. Ideas about what a family looks like change, methods for gaining and maintaining wealth come in and out of favor, cultural ethics go in and out of favor. God’s ways remain.
In a world of constant change, God is constant. He is dependable. He is reliable and trustworthy. God is worth our adoration.
