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Daniel 11 is a very quick tour of Jewish (and to some extent world) history from the Persians through Alexander the Great and the Greeks to the Romans, eventually Christianity all the way to the time of the messiah (and potentially a final war that might precede the messiah). Let's look at a few verses. . . “three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth one will become wealthy with great wealth, and when be becomes strong with his wealth, he will arouse all against the kingdom of Greece.” (Daniel 11:2). Seder Olam assumes this Greek king to be Alexander the Great. Daniel 11:21 Then in its place will stand a contemptible one, upon whom they did not confer the glory of kingship; he will come in peace, attaining kingship through treachery. This is Rome -- who Judah invited in and who then turned on her. Daniel 11:22 The powers that had swept away (others) will themselves be swept away before him and will be broken, as well as the prince of the covenant. This speaks of the Jews who formed the covenant with Rome and then was crushed by Rome. Daniel 11:23 Through alliance with him he will act with deceit and he will come up and gain power with a small nation. Same tune, second verse. This speaks about how the Hasmonean Jews who invited the Romans in were betrayed by them. The countries around Israel were also taken over by Rome. Daniel 11:24 He will come in peace, into the richest part of the province will he come, and he will do what his fathers and forefathers did not do; (among his allies) he will distribute booty, spoils and wealth, and he will devise his plans against (their) fortresses until the time. At first the Romans gave wealth to those who invited them in, and then turned on them. In Daniel 11:26 the Romans swept away the leaderless army after the king was killed. The enemies of Israel will exile us. . . in Daniel 11:28 the emperor of Rome went home full of the spoils of Judah with no intention of keeping his covenant with us. "And companies will come upon him from the Kittites (Romans, Kittim is another name for Rome), and he will be crushed" Daniel 11:30. "And arms from him will stand, and they will profane the Sanctuary, the stronghold, and they will remove the daily sacrifice, and place a silent abomination." Daniel 11:31. This happened in the time of Hadrian, who set up an idol on the site of the second Temple. "And the king will do as he wishes, and he will exalt himself and magnify himself over every powerful one, and about the G-d of the mighty he will speak wondrous things, and he will succeed until the fury is spent, when it will be finished and executed." Daniel 11:36 Rashi says this king is a Roman Emperor -- possibly Constantine, the Roman Emperor who introduced Christianity to the Romans (and made it the national religion). The next line seems to speak of the pope and the Christians. "And he will not contemplate the gods of his fathers, and the most desirable of women and any god he will not contemplate, for he will magnify himself over all." Priests are supposed to be celibate -- so the line about not desiring women (not contemplating them) fits this "king" -- the pope. The next few lines also seem to speak about Christianity "But the god of the strongholds on its base he will honor, and the god that his ancestors did not know he will honor with gold and with silver and with precious stones and with desirable things. And he will construct for the fortresses of the strongholds with a foreign god; whomever he will recognize, he will honor increasingly, and he will give them dominion over multitudes, and he will apportion land for a price." Daniel 11:38 - 39. The church built glorious churches with gold and silver -- it held great power over the people of many lands (including the kings of those lands), and it even levied taxes. Christianity will be with us until the true messiah comes. Daniel 11 continues looking into the future (from Daniel's perspective in the first Persian empire). Line 40 takes us to a possible war which could happen just prior to the messianic age -- a war between Muslim and Christian. The king of the north and the king of the south. . . R' Ian Shaffer has an audio series on Sefer Daniel. Here is a link to his lesson on chapter 11 which is found on the Yeshiva University website. The Rabbi states that chapter 11 starts with the Persians and goes "straight through" to the end of times (Chapter 10 in Daniel discusses from the destruction of the first Temple forward). If you're going to look at Daniel 11 I suggest reading what Maimonides, the Rambam, has to say about Jesus and Daniel 11. "Even of Jesus of Nazareth, who imagined that he was the Messiah, but was put to death by the court, Daniel had prophesied, as it is written: And the children of the violent among your people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall stumble [Daniel 11:14]. "For has there ever been a greater stumbling than this? All the prophets affirmed that the Messiah would redeem Israel, save them, gather their dispersed, and confirm the commandments. But he (Jesus / Christianity) caused Israel to be destroyed by the sword, their remnants to be dispersed and humiliated. He was instrumental in changing the Torah and causing the world to err and serve another beside G-d."
5 Comments
4/17/2016 11:43:22 am
I have been very much involved in counter-missionary activities, both online as well as offline. I was happy to read this important article and other articles in this blog, that refute missionary claims. For this reason I would like to nominate you for the Blogger Recognition Award.
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Susan Ulrich
8/5/2017 11:33:42 pm
I see your title. "Jesus is not for Jews." Lady, JESUS IS NOT FOR ME EITHER!
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Ruth Jacobs
8/24/2020 01:45:15 am
thank you for all your posts Sophiee it is powerful , in fact they are all powerful and add so much to knowledge and Torah study
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Ruth Jacobs
8/24/2020 01:46:31 am
thank you so much for all your posts they add so much to my Torah study
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