Series:
Living for God in a World that Has Forgotten Him
Daniel 11:1-35 KJV
The Book of Daniel
Lesson 12
THE GOD WHO WRITES HISTORY BEFORE IT HAPPENS
Daniel 11:1–35 KJV
The God who perfectly fulfilled hundreds of prophecies in the past can be completely trusted with our future.
Fulfilled prophecy is God’s signature upon His Word
Daniel 11:1–35 reveals one of the most remarkable examples of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible. Through the rise and fall of Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria, and Antiochus Epiphanes, God demonstrates His absolute sovereignty over history. This lesson encourages believers to trust God’s Word, remain faithful during difficult times, and find confidence in the certainty of His promises.
The God who perfectly fulfilled yesterday’s prophecies can be completely trusted with tomorrow’s promises.
Daniel Fifth Vision:
CHAPTERS 10-12
Israel in the Last Days Under the Antichrist: Time and Space
| Approx. Date | Chapter | Ruler / Setting | Vision or Revelation |
| c. 603–602 B.C. | Daniel 2 | 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar | Great Image — Four Gentile Kingdoms |
| c. 553 B.C. | Daniel 7 | 1st year of Belshazzar | Four Beasts, Little Horn & Son of Man |
| c. 551 B.C. | Daniel 8 | 3rd year of Belshazzar | Ram, He-Goat & Little Horn |
| 539 B.C. | Daniel 9 | 1st year of Darius the Mede | Seventy Weeks |
| 536 B.C. | Daniel 10–12 | 3rd year of Cyrus | Final Vision — Israel, Antichrist, Tribulation & Resurrection |
Daniel 7 specifically dates its vision to the first year of Belshazzar, while Daniel 10 places the final revelation in the third year of Cyrus
THE KINGS OF PERSIA, GREECE, NORTH AND SOUTH
Daniel 11
Part of the 536 B.C. revelation
Daniel 11 contains extraordinarily detailed prophecy concerning events that would unfold after Daniel.
The chapter moves through:
Persia → Greece → Alexander → divided Greek kingdom → Kings of the North and South → Antiochus Epiphanes → ultimately toward the final great enemy.
The historical sections especially concern the conflicts between the Seleucid rulers to Israel’s north and the Ptolemaic rulers to Israel’s south.
Israel repeatedly finds herself caught in the middle.
This chapter demonstrates something fundamental about biblical prophecy:
God doesn’t merely know that history will happen—He knows the details.
From a futurist perspective, beginning around Daniel 11:36, the description is commonly understood to move beyond Antiochus as the primary focus and toward the future Antichrist, though interpreters differ on precisely where that transition occurs.
That distinction is worth explaining carefully when you teach the chapter.
He predicts the overthrow of Persia by the king of Grecia (Greece)
1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 3 And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. 4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
Leagues and conflicts between the kings of the south and of the north
5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. 6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. 7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, 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: 8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. 10 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, even to his fortress. 11 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. 12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it. 13 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. 14 And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. 15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. 16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. 17 He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do: and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her: but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him. 19 Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. 20 Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. 23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time. 25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 27 And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 28 Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35 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. . (Dan 11:1-35)
Since I’ve decided to divide Daniel 11 into two complete lessons, we’ll take our time. This first lesson will cover Daniel 11:1–35 and focus on fulfilled prophecy. The second lesson will cover Daniel 11:36–45 and focus on the future Antichrist.
Introduction
Most history books tell us what happened.
Daniel tells us what would happen hundreds of years before it happened.
Daniel chapter 11 is unlike any other chapter in the Bible.
Some Bible scholars have called it the greatest chapter on fulfilled prophecy ever written.
Nearly every verse from Daniel 11:1–35 has already been fulfilled with astonishing precision. More than one hundred detailed prophetic statements unfolded exactly as God declared centuries beforehand.
That is why critics of the Bible have often claimed Daniel must have been written after these events. Yet the evidence consistently supports the traditional dating of Daniel, making these fulfilled prophecies a powerful testimony to the divine inspiration of Scripture.
This chapter reminds us that:
History is simply His story.
God is not reacting to history.
God is directing history.
Historical Background
Daniel is now an elderly man.
The Babylonian Empire has fallen.
The Medes and Persians rule the world.
Daniel has just experienced the vision of Chapter 10, where he learned that unseen spiritual warfare lies behind the events of earth.
Now the heavenly messenger begins revealing what will happen over the next several centuries.
Kings will rise.
Empires will expand.
Battles will be fought.
Kingdoms will collapse.
Yet behind every political change stands the sovereign hand of Almighty God. Daniel 11 traces the rise of Persia, the conquest of Alexander the Great, the division of his empire, the struggles between the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria, and the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes with remarkable historical accuracy.
