Control of the Holy Land Shifts Repeatedly
Next Part The Role of Antiochus IV (Epiphanes)
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Notice Dan 11:7: “But out of a branch of her roots [Bernice’s parents] shall one [this is her brother who would take the throne in his father’s stead as the king of the south] stand up in his estate [“in his office,” margin], which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail.”
Rawlinson states, “Ptolemy Euergetes [the III, eldest son of Philadelphus, and therefore Bernice’s brother, a branch of her roots] invaded Syria, B.C. 245, to avenge the murder of his sister Bernice…In the war which followed, he carried everything before him” (pp. 252, 272).
Dan 11:8 speaks of the king of the south carrying silver and gold vessels, with captives, back to Egypt (Dan 11:9) after a successful invasion of the north. In fact, Ptolemy III did conquer Syria, the Port of Antioch (capital of the kingdom) and Seleucia. He took a vast amount of spoils, including the return of 2,500 idolatrous vessels and molten images that, in 526 B.C., the northern king, Cambyses, had taken from Egypt.
The passage also states that King Ptolemy III would rule longer (“more years”) than the king of the north, Seleucus II. Seleucus died in 226 B.C., and Ptolemy III reigned four years longer, until 222 B.C.
At the death of Seleucus II, his kingdom was ruled successively by his two sons. Seleucus III reigned just three years (226-223 B.C.), while his brother, Antiochus III, also called “the Great,” reigned for 36 years (223-187 B.C.). Each established great armies to fight Egypt, recover their port city of Seleucia and avenge the defeat of their father.
It took twenty-seven years for Antiochus to recapture Seleucia and conquer Syria and the area from Judea to Gaza. Dan 11:10-11 state, “But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return and be stirred up [“be stirred up again,” margin], even to his fortress. And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.”
Ptolemy IV fulfilled Dan 11:11 exactly. After gathering an army of 20,000, he did “move with choler [anger]” against Antiochus the Great. He fulfilled Dan 11:12 because he did “cast down [kill] many ten thousands.” However, he retreated too soon to Egypt, having made too hasty a peace with Antiochus, and wasted the substance he had gained, hence the phrase, “but he shall not be strengthened by it” (i.e., his victory over Antiochus in 217 B.C.).
Twelve years later (205 B.C.), Ptolemy Philopator, king of Egypt, died. His baby son, Ptolemy Epiphanes, was given the throne. Thus, Egypt became vulnerable to attack. Antiochus took advantage of this vulnerability “after certain years” by defeating Egypt. Dan 11:13 explains, “For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.”
Soon thereafter, Antiochus formed an alliance with Philip of Macedonia to attack Egypt and retrieve Phoenicia and Southern Syria from Egypt. The famous Jewish historian, Josephus, states that a large number of Jews joined Antiochus in this campaign. Dan 11:14 describes this. Again, you should try to carefully read each verse from your Bible as this outline of history is laid before you.
Next, Antiochus laid siege all the way from Egypt to Sidon, eventually seizing control of Judea in 198 B.C., at the Battle of Mount Panium. Notice the reference to the Holy Land (Judea) as “the glorious land” (Dan 11:15-16).
At this time (198 B.C.), Antiochus arranged to have his daughter, Cleopatra, and the now little boy king, Ptolemy Epiphanes, marry. But this plan to control and possess Egypt, through deceit, failed, because Cleopatra deceived her father, Antiochus, and did not help him take control of Egypt (Dan 11:17). (This was not the same Cleopatra as the famous Egyptian queen of 31 B.C.)
This caused Antiochus to focus on defeating and taking control of the coasts of Asia Minor, including the islands around it (197-196 B.C.). However, in the Battle of Magnesia (190 B.C.), Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus, the Roman general, defeated him and destroyed his army (Dan 11:18).
Daniel records, “Then he shall turn his face toward the fort [fortresses] of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.” Antiochus, after redirecting his concerns toward his own fortresses, was killed in 197 B.C. while seeking to consolidate his assets by plundering the Oriental Temple of Belus in Elymais (Dan 11:19).
Heliodorus, the “raiser of taxes,” was sent by Seleucus IV Philopator to raise money throughout Judea. However, Heliodorus poisoned Seleucus IV, who consequently reigned only eleven years—187-176 B.C. (Dan 11:20). Seleucus IV had no heir, so his younger brother (Epiphanes or Antiochus IV) won control of the kingdom by flattery (“flatteries”) and deceit. As the next verse states, this man was an extremely “vile,” contemptible person and his aid, Eumenes, did come to assist him. Rawlinson states that “Antiochus [Epiphanes], assisted by Eumenes, drives out Heliodorus, and obtains the throne, B.C. 176, he astonishes his subjects by an affectation of Roman manners and good-natured profuseness [flatteries]” (Dan 11:21).