March 14–20

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 12: “From North and South to the Beautiful Land”

Before we start a discussion of this week’s lesson, I want to reiterate my position on prophecy.

On issues touching salvation, we can and must be certain, and we must stand firm for Biblical truth. 

Here we are dealing with prophecy laid out in the book of Daniel and, although it has much to tell us, it is not directly related to our salvation. A right understanding of prophecy is not a requirement for salvation, so we can allow different interpretations, and where we disagree, we can do it agreeably.

The problem that must be confronted is when the Bible is twisted and changed in order to fit in someone’s personal ideas. That is not rightly handling the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), and we should strenuously argue against it. We must “contend earnestly for the faith” (in this context for the right handling of God’s Word) while still being as agreeable as possible.

The first part of the lesson has good emphasis on God and on His control over all that happens. Nothing happens that He does not allow and for that, we are grateful as we trust His hand on events.

This sentence from the lesson sums it up very well:

“The Bible reveals that God is in ultimate control and will move the wheel of history according to His divine purpose, which ultimately will lead to the eradication of evil and the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom.”

The Bible starts with a perfect creation from a perfect God, and it ends with the recreation of everything to its previous, perfect condition which will last through all eternity. In between those two points, however, it got very, very messy, but we know that God will make it right in His time.

This paragraph from the lesson also says it well:

“The God who predicts the vicissitudes of those Hellenistic kingdoms fighting each other is the God who knows the future. He is worthy of our trust and faith. This is a big God, not an idol manufactured by human imagination. He not only directs the course of historical events, but He also can direct our lives if we allow Him to do so.”

That is what Jesus meant when He said:

“Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe” (John 14:29). 

Prophecy is often a warning, but it is also to reassure us that He knows all before it happens.

With all that in mind, chapter 11, up through verse 35, all the actions of these kings against each other, with the “beautiful land”, Israel, caught in the middle, can be seen step by step in history. The lesson quote above said it well—“those Hellenistic kingdoms fighting each other”. 

The main evil protagonist is Antiochus Epiphanes (the king of the North) as he and various rulers of Egypt (the king of the South) battled each other for supremacy. It is all recorded in history and although some points are vague and open to different possible interpretations, from our point of view, verses 1-35 have all happened.

For instance, in verse 23 it is prophesied: “After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception” which is exactly how Antiochus behaved—he could never be trusted to keep his word or his alliances. Verses 24 and 25 describe how he would (and did from our perspective) plunder by deceit.

Verses 29-35 detail how he will come again against Egypt “at the appointed time”. God was always in control and at the time He chose, Antiochus was drawn out to fight again.

But he was not allowed to conquer Egypt as the time was nearing for the belly and thighs of bronze, Greece in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, to give way to the legs of iron—Rome.

He got near to Alexandria but the Roman leader demanded that he leave. Facing a superior force Antiochus hesitated, then he withdrew and passed back through Israel on the way home.  On the way through, because of his anger and humiliation over being thwarted, he took it out on Israel by desecrating the temple and killing many Jews. 

Although not every point or person mentioned in this chapter is easily identified now, there is enough that happened exactly as foretold to make it an amazingly accurate prophecy. Not surprising, just reassuring.

Verse 35 states that they will be “refined and purged to make them pure until the end time” which seems to be a kind of parenthesis to indicate a break in the timeline; and from the time of Jerome in 400 AD, there has been a general consensus that verse 36 jumps ahead to the Tribulation and introduces the antichrist.

Most Bible scholars agree that Antiochus was a precursor, or model, of the character and behavior of the coming antichrist who will turn his demonic hatred onto the Jews during the Tribulation, the last 7 years of Daniel 9:24-27. 

Much of the book of Revelation is about this time and in numerous places in the Old and New Testaments, it is called the time of Jacob’s trouble which makes it clear that it is all about the Jews, not the Church.

Although any believer in God will suffer along with the Jews, a major target of the devil’s hatred has always been the Jews.

A further mis-handling of the Bible shows very clearly in this from the lesson:

“Most important, according to the biblical text, it was during the reign of Tiberius that the “prince of the covenant” would be broken (Dan. 11:22). This clearly refers to the crucifixion of Christ, also called “Messiah the prince” (Dan. 9:25; see also Matt. 27:33–50), as He is put to death during the reign of Tiberius.”

Just because Jesus is called “Messiah the prince” in one place, does not necessarily mean that every time that phrase “the prince” is used it must mean Jesus. In the Bible, a “prince” is a leader.

While we can agree that the “covenant” here is the covenant God made with Abraham, which also included all of his descendants, there is evidence in the historical accounts that this particular “prince” of that covenant could be the Jewish High Priest during that time, Onias III.

So again, we can see connections, but we can’t be adamant where the Bible isn’t absolutely certain.

It is all about God and His hand in all that happens. In that we take great comfort, as the lesson says, because we know these things about God: 

• He loves us (John 3:16)
• He is faithful (Hebrews 10:23)
• He doesn’t lie and can be trusted to do what He says (Hebrews 6:18)
• He gives us the Holy Spirit as a down payment and guarantee of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13, 14)
• He won’t lose anyone that comes to Him (John 6;39, 40)
• He is coming to take us to be with Him forever (John 14:1-3)

So, although there are many different interpretation of the chapter, we can be sure of this: God is always in control and nothing happens that He does not allow. †