Christ and the Apostles Enter the Prophecy

Back to The Bible's Difficult Scriptures Explained!

The first part of Dan 11:32 describes Antiochus’ attempt to destroy the Jewish religion. He actually outlawed both the daily sacrifice and the daily ministration of the Temple through a system of flattering (with favors) any Jews who would renounce their beliefs.

It is critical to understand that, from the middle of verse thirty-two, the prophecy shifts forward to the time of the New Testament Church. We have watched each step of this prophecy unfold through two centuries of time. The time setting now fast-forwards approximately 200 years to depict true Christians, through the next 2,000 years, especially in the late stages of this age, “even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed” (Dan 11:35). Notice that Dan 11:32 speaks of “people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits [great works].” Dan 11:33 continues, “they that understand among the people shall instruct many.”

At this point, many theologians and commentaries note that the highly detailed, precisely-fulfilled, verse-by-verse story appears to come to an abrupt end with this verse. But this is not true!

These two portions of verses picture two entirely different time settings—the first being a type of the latter. Certainly Antiochus did “corrupt by flatteries” a great many Jews. The latter part of Dan 11:32 speaks of the time of the Maccabees, who resisted Antiochus’ pattern of corruption and slaughter. They represented a type of what Christ and the apostles would begin to do when Christ built His Church (Matt. 16:18).

Christians are supposed to be “strong” and should always be prepared to “instruct many”—because they “understand” what God is doing in His Plan on earth! Of course, Christ and the apostles certainly fulfilled these verses toward many.

Daniel specifically records that at the time of the end (Dan 12:10), “none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” The entirety of Daniel 12:1-13 is a continuation of this end-time setting—established from here forward. (Our booklet Are These the Last Days? discusses this in greater detail.)

The latter part of Dan 11:33 is a picture of the martyrdom of Christ and all of the apostles except John. For true Christians, persecution and martyrdom continued into the Middle Ages. (For those who have grown lukewarm, this will occur again before Christ returns.)

Dan 11:34-35 are a clear, powerful description of the path of God’s true people from the time the New Testament Church was founded all the way to the present. Notice: “Now when they shall fall, they shall be [helped] with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” (This verse should be compared with Revelation 12:6, 11, 13-17.)

Dan 11:36 describes the king of the north during the early centuries of the New Testament Church. From 65 B.C. forward, the Roman emperor (king of the north) controlled the Holy Land (Judea). Each Roman emperor certainly did “exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god,” by requiring all his subjects to worship him—and he even required sacrifices to be offered to him, like he was a god! Roman emperors did act as though they were gods. They did speak against the true God and persecuted His true servants—Christians—for many hundreds of years.

Dan 11:37 shows how Roman kings, prior to A.D. 476, had worshipped idols. History records that Roman emperors required their subjects to worship them as gods!

Dan 11:38 describes how the entire Roman Empire did “honor the god of forces [margin, “munitions”].” The Roman army did develop into the most powerful war machine in history to that time, and the empire amassed gold, silver, jewelry, etc. From Justinian’s reign, in A.D. 554, when the “deadly wound” of Revelation 13:1-18 “was healed” (after a 78-year period from A.D. 476, when three northern barbarian tribes had swept into and temporarily controlled Rome), the civil emperors in Rome did begin to honor (with power, gold and silver) a god that had been unknown to their ancestors or “fathers.”

This “god” held a high religious office and received great deference from Roman emperors.

Through these emperors, this high religious office controlled or “ruled over many” and had great power and wealth given to it. Carefully compare this portion of the prophecy with Revelation 17:4-5 and 18:3 and 16, where this religious power is described as “Babylon” and “the mother of harlots” who “fornicates” with the “kings” and “merchants of the earth” (Dan 11:38-39)!