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Daniel 11:40-45

Daniel 11:40-45. Toward a Spiritual Reading. Overview. Introduction. Introduction. In this paper I will make the case for a spiritual application of Dan 11:40-45. Introduction. We start with vs. 40. Verse 40 is pervasively figurative:

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Daniel 11:40-45

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  1. Daniel 11:40-45 Toward a Spiritual Reading

  2. Overview

  3. Introduction

  4. Introduction • In this paper I will make the case for a spiritual application of Dan 11:40-45.

  5. Introduction • We start with vs. 40. • Verse 40 is pervasively figurative: • KS = Animal “Attack” = push at, butt with, gore (see Dan 8:7) • KN = Wind “Rush upon him like a whirlwind” • KN = Water “Overflow and pass through [like a flood]” • This is not literal language.

  6. Introduction • Verse 40 is a microcosm of what follows in vss. 41-43 and 44-45. • What happens in the passage is three things: • South attacks North (vs. 40a) • North attacks South (vss. 40b-43) • North and South together attack the people of God (vss. 44-45) • The figurative intent of vs. 40 is therefore not confined to vs. 40, but affects the entire section.

  7. Introduction • The culminating event that the section builds to is the second coming. • The question is how we get there contextually. How does the angel build to this climax in the final verses?

  8. Introduction • We have the same situation in all four prophecies. Each one ends with a major spiritual event and each one builds to that event in a way that makes sense in its context.

  9. Introduction

  10. Introduction • One model for Dan 11:40-45 (literal) • People fighting other people is not diagnostic of the end time and does not provide a context for the second coming, even if every person on earth were involved in the fighting (Matt 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9). • Because the text describes only one army in vss. 44-45. • Another model for Dan 11:40-45 (spiritual) • When all the kings of the whole world gather as one army to fight against God, that is diagnostic of the end time. • When Christ comes, He brings the other army with Him.

  11. Introduction • By a spiritual interpretation I mean one that focuses on God and His people. • A better contrast than spiritual/literal might be spiritual/secular, because focusing on human wars is not the same as focusing on God and His people. • There is no consistently literal interpretation of our passage in the end time.

  12. Daniel 11:40-45

  13. King of the South, King of the North Subsection 1

  14. King of the South • In 1798 the king of the South was the French general Berthier, because in 1798 Berthier did what kings of the South do, i.e., he attacked the king of the North. • This is a functional definition of what South is. • South is as South does. • North is as North does.

  15. King of the North

  16. King of the North

  17. King of the North

  18. King of the North

  19. King of the North • Here is a new power, but we still have to identify it. • There are three verbal parallels between chaps. 9 and 11 which can help us do this.

  20. King of the North Transition #1: A new power enters the prophecy.

  21. King of the North Transition #1: A new power enters the prophecy.

  22. King of the North Transition #1: A new power enters the prophecy.

  23. King of the North • What does the “prince” destroy in Dan 9? Two things: • Messiah (AD 34). • Jerusalem (AD 70). • This is secular Rome. • In Dan 11:16 Rome is called “the invader” (NAB, NIV, NJB), or literally, “the one who comes against him.” • Invading is a point of entry. Verse 16 is the point where Rome enters Dan 11 (not vs. 14, not vs. 20). Transition #1: Rome enters the prophecy

  24. King of the North • In vss. 29-35 we start finding spiritual terminology: • “The holy covenant” (30, 30, 32) • “The temple” (31) • “The regular [burnt offering]” (31) (=“the daily”) • “The abomination that makes desolate” (31) • “The people who know their God” (32) • “The wise among the people” (33), “the wise” (35) • “Refined, purified, and made white” (35) (also 12:10) Transition #2: Rome assumes a spiritual form

  25. King of the North • In vss. 36-39 the stream of spiritual terminology continues: • “Every god” (36) • “The God of gods” (36) • “The gods of his fathers” (37) • “The one beloved by women” (37) • “Any other god” (37) • “All [other gods]” (37) • “The god of fortresses” (38) • “A god whom his fathers did not know” (38) • “A foreign god” (39) No transition here

  26. King of the North • In vss. 40-45 we find similar terms: • “The glorious land” (vs. 41) • “The glorious holy mountain” (vs. 45) No transition here

  27. King of the North • Rome starts out as a secular power and becomes spiritual later. Spiritual Rome is the papacy. • Dan 11:16-28 Secular Rome • Dan 11:29 -39 The papacy (before wound) • Dan 11:40-43 The papacy (during wound) • Dan 11:44-45 The papacy (after wound)

  28. Geographical Relationships Subsection 2

  29. Geography The blue line shows the king of the North marching out of the North. The red line shows the king of the North marching back toward the South. This is more than a change of direction.

  30. Geography • North and South are not just points of the compass in Dan 11. • North/South was a specifically Greek distinction. • Greece was a divided kingdom (Syria, Egypt). • Rome was not a divided kingdom. Mapping the divisions of Alexander’s empire onto Rome won’t work. • The compass doesn’t change in Dan 11, but it was never about the compass. It was about the empires.

  31. Geography • North can only be North if it is North from something, and South can only be South if it is South from something. Take away the something which gives these terms their meaning, and you lose the ability to define them. • By the end of the first century the entire system of literal geographical relationships had unraveled: Syria was gone, Egypt was gone, Jerusalem was gone. • And so, in any literal geographical sense, the North/South distinction was gone.

  32. Geography • Syria became irrelevant when Rome displaced it in 168 BC. • When Rome became an empire in 31 BC, Egypt ceased to exist as a nation. It became the personal property of the emperor. • When Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, it was replaced by a Roman colony called “AeliaCapitolina.” For many years there was no Jerusalem. • Geographical literalism in Dan 11 only works well during the Greek period.

  33. Three Metaphors in Dan 11:40 Subsection 3

  34. Metaphors • 40a: At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him [yitnaggaḥ ʿimmô], • 40b: but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind [weyiśtāʿērʾālāyw], with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. • 40c: And he shall come into countries • 40d: and shall overflow and pass through [wešāṭapweʿābar].

  35. Metaphors

  36. Metaphors In metaphor #1 the animal has horns. because it gores its opponent (*ngḥ). The imagery in Dan 11:40a is similar to that in Dan 8:7.

  37. Metaphors No object can be in two contrasting states simultaneously. The difference between metaphor #2 and metaphor #3 involves time because it involves change. The two responses represent the king’s activity at different moments of history.

  38. Metaphors • First response (vs. 40b) • Metaphor #2: whirlwind (weyiśtāʿērʾālāyw) • From the North • Directed against the South • Proleptic overview of vss. 42-43 • Second response (vs. 40d) • Metaphor #3: flood (wešāṭapweʿābar) • From the South • Directed against the people of God • Proleptic overview of vss. 44-45

  39. Dan 11:40 Is a Microcosm of What Follows Subsection 4

  40. Microcosm • The first clause (vs. 40a) only sets a chronological baseline for the passage. It is not referred to again.

  41. Microcosm • There is a proleptic relationship between vss. 40b and 40c. • In vs. 40b the statement that the king of the North “shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships” must be interpreted proleptically, because the king rushes “upon him.” • In vs. 40c the reason why the the king of the North comes “into countries” is that he’s heading toward “Egypt” and hasn’t gotten there yet. • 40b takes us forward out of sequence to a point later than 40c. This is prolepsis. • There are three more examples in the passage.

  42. Microcosm • Verse 40b and vss. 42-43 • If “him” in the clause “he shall rush upon him” (a person, 40b) refers to anything in later verses, it refers to “Egypt” (a place, 42-43). • If “him” does not point forward to “Egypt,” it points forward to nothing and the prediction fails.

  43. Microcosm • Verse 40c and vss. 41-43 • General statement • “And he shall come into countries” (40c) • Further information • “The glorious land” (vs. 41) • “Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites [benê ʿammôn]” (vs. 41) • “The countries” (vs. 42) • “Egypt” (vss. 42, 43) • “The Libyans [lūbîm] and the Cushites [kūsîm]” (vs. 43)

  44. Microcosm • Verse 40d and vss. 44-45 • General statement • “And shall overflow and pass through” (40d) • Further information • “And he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction” (44) • This answers the question “What?” • “And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain” (45) • This answers the question “Where?”

  45. Microcosm In between the second metaphor and the third the king changes (a) direction, (b) mood, and (c) role. Thus, metaphors #2 and #3 represent separate and distinct moments of history. First the king of the North attacks the king of the South (#2); then he attacks the people of God (#3).

  46. Exegesis of Dan 11:41-45 Subsection 5

  47. Exegesis (Early Verses) • In vs. 41 “the glorious land” (Dan 8:9; 11:16, 41) is the land of Israel, but now from a spiritual point of view. End time Israel is spiritual Israel. • The focus is on people.

  48. Exegesis (Early Verses) • The opposite counterpart of “the glorious land” is “Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites” (vs. 41b). • Again the emphasis is on people. The reference is not to Ammon (singular), but to “the Ammonites” (plural). • The angel is setting up a contrast between one group and another. The one unexpectedly fails in some way, the other unexpectedly succeeds.

  49. Exegesis (Early Verses) • “Egypt” is mentioned in vss. 42 and 43 (“Egypt shall not escape”; “all the precious things of Egypt”). • “The Libyans and the Cushites shall follow in his train” (vs. 43). • This is not a reference to Libya (singular), but to “the Libyans” (plural). • Similarly, the second reference is not to Cush (singular), but to “the Cushites” (plural). The focus is on people. • These people groups no longer exist. • The above outcome (people following in the king’s train) corresponds to his objectives, or it does not. If it does, what the king wants is not blood, but followers.

  50. Exegesis (Early Verses) • The king of the North does not devastate “Egypt,” or harm it in any way, but merely makes himself at home there. • In vss. 42-43 there is no mention of Southern resistence. • One reason why South does not respond when North invades could be that it does not realize an invasion is taking place. South is not spiritual and has no awareness of spiritual warfare.

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