Today’s passage: Daniel 11:14-28
Helpful thoughts:
- Violent men, even of the Jewish people, chose sides and got involved in the conflicts and battles between the Greek powers.
- The person who will stand in the “Glorious land” is Antiochus. He was warmly received when he arrived in Jerusalem.
- The “contemptible person” (Vs. 21) that rose in his place was Atiochus IV Epiphanes. This is the “Little horn” from Daniel 8.
- “His heart shall be set against the holy covenant.” (Vs. 28)
- When Antiochus Epiphanes was returning home from Egypt in 169 B.C. he passed through Palestine, passing by the Jewish people.
- He found an insurrection there against his rule and in response, 80,000 Jews (Men, women and children) were killed and he looted the Temple.
Questions to consider:
- Why were these men’s efforts to no avail (Vs. 27)? Who was really in control of these situations and the results? (Remember this is history to us, but when this was written, none of it had happened yet!)
- How badly would the Jewish people have been desiring to see the Messiah come during times like this? What do you think they would have especially desired the Messiah to come and do? How might that desire have differed from what Jesus later came to accomplish?