Israel-Iran War
Daniel was taken into captivity by the Babylonians in 586BC when he was about 18 years old. In 539BC the Babylonians fell to Cyrus the Great, who united the Medes and Persians to create the Achaemenid Empire from approximately 559BC to 331BC.
The book of Daniel written in the 5th Century BC, prophesied the coming 1st-3rd Century BC Grecian Empire in great detail and accuracy. The book of Daniel was canonized by Ezra as a Prophetic book in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible in the 5th Century BC.
In the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates, "the laws of the Jews" at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BCE) were translated into the Greek Septuagint (meaning seventy) by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It was rumoured that the translation took only 72 days.
Fulfillment of Prophecies
The prophecies in the Book of Daniel was so accurately fulfilled that faithless theologians and historians classified the Book of Daniel as historic or writings. Some of these faithless theologians and historians even suggested that Daniel was only a myth and the book of Daniel was written around 100BC, well after all these historical events had happened.
Wikipedia – In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Daniel is found in the Ketuvim (writings or historical), while in Christian Bibles it is grouped with the Major Prophets... Though the book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel himself, modern scholarly consensus considers it pseudonymous, the stories of the first half legendary in origin, and the visions of the second the product of anonymous authors in the Maccabean period (1st-2nd Century BC).
Jesus Proclaimed Daniel a Prophet
Mat 24:15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand)."
We thank God that our Lord Jesus proclaimed Daniel a prophet of God. Not only that, the book of Daniel holds many mysteries to the understanding of Endtime prophecies. Our Lord wants us to read and understand the prophecies in it so that we will be able to understand those very important Endtime prophecies.
Start of the Grecian Empire
Dan 11:4 "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."
Alexander left a huge empire at his death. His generals jostled for control of this kingdom. After much fighting and jockeying for position, Alexander's empire was divided into four major portions by 301 BC:
1. Cassander ruled over Greece,
2. Lysimachus ruled in Asia Minor (Turkey),
3. Seleucus I Nicator (king of the North) ruled in Babylon and Persia, and
4. Ptolemy I Soter (king of the South) ruled over the Holy Land and Egypt.
Dan 11:28 is the last prophecy for the king of the North (former Persian Empire) and the king of the South (Israel and Egypt) of the Grecian Empire, for the Romans defeated the Greeks to establish the Roman Empire, which unified both the kings of the North and South and the whole middle East as part of the Roman Empire.
Appointed time is Endtime
Dan 8:19 And he said, “Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.
The appointed time is the end time, and the final war between the king of the North and the king of the South will only appear at the end time.
Endtime Events
Dan 11:29 “At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter."
Dan 11:29 onwards, are prophecies of the endtime or last days, where the affected countries are similar to those in the Grecian days.
I believe Daniel's Endtime prophecies will be as detailed and accurate as his earlier prophecies. Let us enjoy God's endtime signs together as we study Daniel 11.
