Daniel 11:1-20
Kings Rise and Collide
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1“And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.
2Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
3Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.
4But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.
5The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.
6After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.
7But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.
8He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,
9who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.
10But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress.
11In a rage, the king of the South will march out to fight the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be delivered into the hand of his enemy.
12When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph.
13For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.
14In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail.
15Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.
16The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.
17He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him.
18Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him.
19After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
20In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The messenger tells Daniel of three more Persian kings, then a fourth whose great wealth will help him stir up opposition to Greece. A mighty king will arise, but his kingdom will be divided toward the four winds. His descendants will not inherit it, and its successors will not have his authority.
The vision turns to the kings of the South and North. A daughter of the southern king goes north to seal an alliance, but she loses her position and is given up with those around her. Someone from her family later defeats the northern army and carries gods and precious vessels back to Egypt. Invasion and retaliation follow.
The southern king wins a battle and becomes proud, yet his success does not last. The northern king returns with a larger army. Even violent people among Daniel’s own people join the upheaval and fail. A fortified city falls, the southern troops cannot resist, and the invader establishes himself in the Beautiful Land with destruction in his hand.
Another marriage agreement follows: the northern king gives a daughter to the southern king, intending to overthrow his kingdom. This plan fails. He captures coastlands until a commander stops him, then returns toward his own fortresses, where he falls and is no more. His successor sends out a tax collector but is soon destroyed, though not in battle.
The repeated reversals are sobering. A ruler may win a battle, arrange a marriage, or collect wealth, yet none of these achievements gives him lasting control. People and whole lands are caught in ambitions that their rulers cannot secure.
Questions
1 What happens to the mighty king's kingdom?
AnswerIt is broken and divided toward the four winds rather than passed intact to his descendants. Great power proves vulnerable to succession and fragmentation.
2 What characterizes the kings of the north and south?
AnswerThey make alliances, invade, betray, take fortresses, and carry away treasure. Their political maneuvering repeatedly turns ordinary people and neighboring lands into the cost of ambition.
3 What happens to the first alliance involving the southern king’s daughter?
AnswerShe does not retain her position of power and is given up with those around her. The agreement does not secure her future.
4 Does the later northern king’s marriage plan succeed?
AnswerNo. He gives a daughter to the southern king to overthrow the kingdom, but the plan does not succeed or help him.
What This Means for Us
The two marriage arrangements show rulers using family relationships to advance their kingdoms. Neither arrangement secures the future its planners intend.
Consider the hopes you place on people in your own family. A child’s achievement, a relative’s connections, or a marriage should not become a means of advancing everyone else’s status. Ask what is good for the person, and listen to them. Love makes room for a person’s welfare even when it offers us no advantage.
Prayer
God of history, protect people who live beneath unstable rulers and shifting alliances. Give leaders integrity, give us compassion for unseen costs, and keep our household from admiring power without asking whom it burdens. Amen.