Dan 11 — The Kings of the South and the North
Dan 12 — The Time of the End
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Today we finish the short, yet pivotal book of Daniel. Amazing how much can get packed into just a few pages! I’d like to say I read these two chapters and completely understood those involved, the battles and the history foretold by Daniel, but that would not be true. However, there are many who have invested many hours in studying these words and compared them to other historical documents to reveal specific historical references.
Daniel 11:1-35 reveals events that will occur in before the birth of Christ. From the NIV Study Bible notes: Ptolemy I Lagi Soter (323-285bc) through Ptolemy VI (141-146bc) on one side and Seleucus I Nicator (311-280bc) through Demetrius I (162-150bc) on the other. There are many resources on the internet to detail these events. Notice that Jesus refers to Daniel in Matthew 24:15, something that makes me think I should invest more time in understanding these prophesies!
Daniel 11:36-45 portrays the antichrist and an overview of his reign, “yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him” (v45). This is followed by the announcement of the future resurrection (12:2-3) and concludes with an assurance, “as for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance” (Daniel 12:13).
There is much to ponder and process in this reading, but to me, the big thing is to rest assured that God has a plan for those who follow him completely. The assurance that while the world will do everything it can to deceive and destroy, God will take care of his people in the end.