mh_parser/vol_split/27 - Daniel/Chapter 11.xml

<div2 id="Dan.xii" n="xii" next="Dan.xiii" prev="Dan.xi" progress="73.01%" title="Chapter XI">
<h2 id="Dan.xii-p0.1">D A N I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Dan.xii-p0.2">CHAP. XI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Dan.xii-p1" shownumber="no">The angel Gabriel, in this chapter, performs his
promise made to Daniel in the foregoing chapter, that he would
"show him what should befal his people in the latter days,"
according to that which was "written in the scriptures of truth:"
very particularly does he here foretel the succession of the kings
of Persia and Grecia, and the affairs of their kingdoms, especially
the mischief which Antiochus Epiphanes did in his time to the
church, which was foretold before (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.11-Dan.8.12" parsed="|Dan|8|11|8|12" passage="Da 8:11-12"><i>ch.</i> viii. 11-12</scripRef>). Here is, I. A
brief prediction of the setting up of the Grecian monarchy upon the
ruins of the Persian monarchy, which was now newly begun, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.1-Dan.11.4" parsed="|Dan|11|1|11|4" passage="Da 11:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. A prediction of the
affairs of the two kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, with reference to
each other, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.5-Dan.11.20" parsed="|Dan|11|5|11|20" passage="Da 11:5-20">ver. 5-20</scripRef>.
III. Of the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, and his actions and
successes, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.21-Dan.11.29" parsed="|Dan|11|21|11|29" passage="Da 11:21-29">ver. 21-29</scripRef>.
IV. Of the great mischief that he should do to the Jewish nation
and religion, and his contempt of all religion, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.30-Dan.11.39" parsed="|Dan|11|30|11|39" passage="Da 11:30-39">ver. 30-39</scripRef>. V. Of his fall and ruin at
last, when he is in the heat of his pursuit, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.40-Dan.11.45" parsed="|Dan|11|40|11|45" passage="Da 11:40-45">ver. 40-45</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Dan.xii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11" parsed="|Dan|11|0|0|0" passage="Da 11" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Dan.xii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.1-Dan.11.4" parsed="|Dan|11|1|11|4" passage="Da 11:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.xii-p1.9">
<h4 id="Dan.xii-p1.10">Ruin of the Persian
Monarchy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.xii-p1.11">b. c.</span> 534.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.xii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede,
<i>even</i> I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.   2 And
now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than
<i>they</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p3" shownumber="no">Here, 1. The angel Gabriel lets Daniel know
the good service he has done to the Jewish nation (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.1" parsed="|Dan|11|1|0|0" passage="Da 11:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): "<i>In the first year of
Darius the Mede,</i> who destroyed Babylon and released the Jews
out of that house of bondage, <i>I stood a strength and fortress to
him,</i> that is, I was instrumental to protect him, and give him
success in his ward, and, after he had conquered Babylon, to
confirm him in his resolution to release the Jews," which, it is
likely, met with much opposition. Thus by the angel, and at the
request of <i>the watcher,</i> the golden head was broken, and the
axe laid to the root of the tree. Note, We must acknowledge the
hand of God in the strengthening of those that are friends to the
church for the service they are to do it, and confirming them in
their good resolutions; herein he uses the ministry of angels more
than we are aware of. And the many instances we have known of God's
care of his church formerly encourage us to depend upon him in
further straits and difficulties. 2. He foretels the reign of four
Persian kings (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.2" parsed="|Dan|11|2|0|0" passage="Da 11:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
<i>Now I will tell thee the truth,</i> that is, the true meaning of
the visions of the great image, and of the four beasts, and expound
in plain terms what was before represented by dark types. (1.)
There shall stand up <i>three kings in Persia,</i> besides Darius,
in whose reign this prophecy is dated, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.1" parsed="|Dan|9|1|0|0" passage="Da 9:1"><i>ch.</i> ix. 1</scripRef>. Mr. Broughton makes these
three to be Cyrus, Artaxasta or Artaxerxes, called by the Greeks
<i>Cambyses,</i> and Ahasuerus that married Esther, called
<i>Darius son of Hystaspes.</i> To these three the Persians gave
these attributes—Cyrus was a father, Cambyses a master, and Darius
a hoarder up. So Herodotus. (2.) There shall be a fourth, <i>far
richer than they all,</i> that is, Xerxes, of whose wealth the
Greek authors take notice. By <i>his strength</i> (his vast army,
consisting of 800,000 men at least) and <i>his riches,</i> with
which he maintained and paid that vast army, he <i>stirred up
all</i> against <i>the realm of Greece.</i> Xerxes's expedition
against Greece is famous in history, and the shameful defeat that
he met with. He who when he went out was the terror of Greece, in
his return was the scorn of Greece. Daniel needed not to be told
what disappointment he would meet with, for he was a hinderer of
the building of the temple; but soon after, about thirty years
after the first return from captivity, Darius, a young king,
revived the building of the temple, owning the hand of God against
his predecessors for hindering it, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.6.7" parsed="|Ezra|6|7|0|0" passage="Ezr 6:7">Ezra
vi. 7</scripRef>. 3. He foretels Alexander's conquests and the
partition of his kingdom, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.3" parsed="|Dan|11|3|0|0" passage="Da 11:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. He is that <i>mighty king</i> that shall <i>stand
up</i> against the kings of Persia, and he shall <i>rule with great
dominion,</i> over many kingdoms, and with a despotic power, for he
shall <i>do according to his will,</i> and undo likewise, which, by
the law of the Medes and Persians, their kings could not. When
Alexander, after he had conquered Asia, would be worshipped as a
god, then this was fulfilled, that he shall <i>do according to his
will.</i> That is God's prerogative, but was his pretension. But
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.4" parsed="|Dan|11|4|0|0" passage="Da 11:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) his
<i>kingdom</i> shall soon be <i>broken,</i> and <i>divided</i> into
four parts, <i>but not to his posterity,</i> nor shall any of his
successors reign <i>according to his dominion;</i> none of them
shall have such large territories nor such an absolute power. His
<i>kingdom was plucked up for others besides those</i> of his own
family. Arideus, his brother, was made king in Macedonia; Olympias,
Alexander's mother, killed him, and poisoned Alexander's two sons,
Hercules and Alexander. Thus was his family rooted out by its own
hands. See what decaying perishing things worldly pomp and
possessions are, and the powers by which they are got. Never was
the vanity of the world and its greatest things shown more
evidently than in the story of Alexander. <i>All is vanity and
vexation of spirit.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.xii-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.5-Dan.11.20" parsed="|Dan|11|5|11|20" passage="Da 11:5-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.xii-p3.8">
<h4 id="Dan.xii-p3.9">The Affairs of Egypt and Syria; The Reign of
Antiochus Magnus; The Fall of Antiochus Magnus. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.xii-p3.10">b.
c.</span> 534.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.xii-p4" shownumber="no">5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and
<i>one</i> of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and
have dominion; his dominion <i>shall be</i> 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 <i>these</i> times.   7
But out of a branch of her roots shall <i>one</i> 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, <i>and</i> with their precious
vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue <i>more</i>
years than the king of the north.   9 So the king of the south
shall come into <i>his</i> 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 <i>one</i> shall
certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he
return, and be stirred up, <i>even</i> to his fortress.   11
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall
come forth and fight with him, <i>even</i> with the king of the
north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude
shall be given into his hand.   12 <i>And</i> when he hath
taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up; and he
shall cast down <i>many</i> ten thousands: but he shall not be
strengthened <i>by it.</i>   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
<i>shall there be any</i> 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 <i>on
his side,</i> 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 <i>it</i> 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 <i>in</i> the
glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed,
neither in anger, nor in battle.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p5" shownumber="no">Here are foretold,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p6" shownumber="no">I. The rise and power of two great kingdoms
out of the remains of Alexander's conquests, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.5" parsed="|Dan|11|5|0|0" passage="Da 11:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 1. The kingdom of Egypt, which
was made considerable by Ptolemæus Lagus, one of Alexander's
captains, whose successors were, from him, called the
<i>Lagidæ.</i> He is called the king of the <i>south,</i> that is,
Egypt, named here, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.8 Bible:Dan.11.42 Bible:Dan.11.43" parsed="|Dan|11|8|0|0;|Dan|11|42|0|0;|Dan|11|43|0|0" passage="Da 11:8,42,43"><i>v.</i> 8,
42, 43</scripRef>. The countries that at first belonged to Ptolemy
are reckoned to be Egypt, Phœnicia, Arabia, Libya, Ethiopia,
&amp;c. Theocr. Idyl. 17. 2. The kingdom of Syria, which was set up
by Seleucus Nicanor, or the <i>conqueror;</i> he was one of
Alexander's princes, and became stronger than the other, and <i>had
the greatest dominion of all,</i> was the most powerful of all
Alexander's successors. It was said that he had no fewer than
seven-two kingdoms under him. Both these were strong against Judah
(the affairs of which are particularly eyed in this prediction);
Ptolemy, soon after he gained Egypt, invaded Judea, and took
Jerusalem <i>on a sabbath,</i> pretending a friendly visit.
Seleucus also gave disturbance to Judea.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p7" shownumber="no">II. The fruitless attempt to unite these
two kingdoms as iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's image (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.6" parsed="|Dan|11|6|0|0" passage="Da 11:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): "<i>At the end of
certain years,</i> about seventy after Alexander's death, the
Lagidæ and the Seleucidæ shall associate, but not in sincerity.
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, shall marry his daughter
Berenice to Antiochus Theos, king of Syria," who had already a wife
called <i>Laodice.</i> "Berenice shall come to the <i>king of the
north,</i> to make an agreement, but it shall not hold: <i>She
shall not retain the power of the arm;</i> neither she nor her
posterity shall establish themselves in the kingdom of the north,
neither shall Ptolemy her father, nor Antiochus her husband
(between whom there was to be a great alliance), <i>stand,</i> nor
their arm, but <i>she shall be given up and those that brought
her,</i>" all that projected that unhappy marriage between her and
Antiochus, which occasioned so much mischief, instead of producing
a coalition between the northern and southern crowns, as was hoped.
Antiochus divorced Berenice, took his former wife Laodice again,
who soon after poisoned him, procured Berenice and her son to be
murdered, and set up her own son by Antiochus to be king, who was
called <i>Seleucus Callinicus.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p8" shownumber="no">III. A war between the two kingdoms,
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.7-Dan.11.8" parsed="|Dan|11|7|11|8" passage="Da 11:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. A branch
from the same root with Berenice <i>shall stand up in his
estate.</i> Ptolemæus Euergetes, the son and successor of Ptolemæus
Philadelphus, shall come with an army against Seleucus Callinicus,
king of Syria, to avenge his sister's quarrel, and shall prevail;
and he shall carry away a rich booty both of persons and goods into
Egypt, and shall <i>continue more years than the king of the
north.</i> This Ptolemy reigned forty-six years; and Justin says
that if his own affairs had not called him home he would, in this
war, have made himself master of the whole kingdom of Syria. But
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.9" parsed="|Dan|11|9|0|0" passage="Da 11:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) he shall be
forced to <i>come into his kingdom</i> and <i>return into his own
land,</i> to keep peace there, so that he can no longer carry on
the war abroad. Note, It is very common for a treacherous peace to
end in a bloody war.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p9" shownumber="no">IV. The long and busy reign of <i>Antiochus
the Great,</i> king of Syria. Seleucus Callinicus, that king of the
north that was overcome (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.7" parsed="|Dan|11|7|0|0" passage="Da 11:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>) and died miserably, left two sons, Seleucus and
Antiochus; these are his sons, the sons of the <i>king of the
north,</i> that shall be <i>stirred up, and shall assemble a
multitude of great forces,</i> to recover what their father had
lost, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.10" parsed="|Dan|11|10|0|0" passage="Da 11:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. But
Seleucus the elder, being weak, and unable to rule his army, was
poisoned by his friends, and reigned only two years; and his
brother Antiochus succeeded him, who reigned thirty-seven years,
and was called <i>the Great.</i> And therefore the angel, though he
speaks of <i>sons</i> at first, goes on with the account of <i>one
only,</i> who was but fifteen years old when he began to reign, and
he shall <i>certainly come, and overflow,</i> and <i>over-run,</i>
and shall <i>be restored</i> at length to what his father lost. 1.
The <i>king of the south,</i> in this war, shall at first have very
great success. Ptolemæus Philopater, moved with indignation at the
indignities done by <i>Antiochus the Great,</i> shall (though
otherwise a slothful prince) <i>come forth, and fight with him,</i>
and shall bring a vast army into the field of 70,000 foot, and 5000
horse, and seventy-three elephants. And the <i>other multitude</i>
(the army of Antiochus, consisting of 62,000 foot, and 6000 horse,
and 102 elephants) shall <i>be given into his hand.</i> Polybius,
who lived with Scipio, has given a particular account of this
battle of Raphia. Ptolemæus Philopater, having gained this victory,
grew very insolent; <i>his heart was lifted up;</i> then he went
into the temple of God at Jerusalem, and, in defiance of the law,
entered the most holy place, for which God has a controversy with
him, so that, though he shall <i>cast down many myriads,</i> yet he
shall <i>not be strengthened by it,</i> so as to secure his
interest. For, 2. The <i>king of the north, Antiochus the
Great,</i> shall <i>return</i> with a <i>greater army</i> than
<i>the former;</i> and, at the <i>end of times (that is, years</i>)
he shall <i>come with a mighty army, and great riches,</i> against
the <i>king of the south,</i> that is, Ptolemæus Epiphanes, who
succeeded Ptolemæus Philopater his father, when he was a child,
which gave advantage to Antiochus the Great. In this expedition he
had some powerful allies (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.14" parsed="|Dan|11|14|0|0" passage="Da 11:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>): <i>Many shall stand up against the king of the
south.</i> Philip of Macedon was confederate with Antiochus against
the king of Egypt, and Scopas his general, whom he sent into Syria;
Antiochus routed him, destroyed a great part of his army; whereupon
the Jews willingly yielded to Antiochus, joined with him, helped
him to besiege Ptolemæus's garrisons. They <i>the robbers of thy
people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision,</i> to help
forward the accomplishment of this prophecy; but <i>they shall
fall, and shall come to nothing,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.14" parsed="|Dan|11|14|0|0" passage="Da 11:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Hereupon (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.15" parsed="|Dan|11|15|0|0" passage="Da 11:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) the <i>king of the north,</i>
this same Antiochus Magnus, shall carry on his design against the
king of the south another way. (1.) He shall surprise his
strong-holds; all that he has got in Syria and Samaria, and the
arms of the south, all the power of the king of Egypt, shall not be
able to withstand him. See how dubious and variable the turns of
the scale of war are; like buying and selling, it is winning and
losing; sometimes one side gets the better and sometimes the other;
yet neither by chance; it is not, as they call it, the <i>fortune
of war,</i> but according to the will and counsel of God, who
brings some low and raises others up. (2.) He shall make himself
master of the land of Judea (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.16" parsed="|Dan|11|16|0|0" passage="Da 11:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): <i>He that comes against him</i> (that is, the king
of the north) shall carry all before him and do what he pleases,
and <i>he shall stand</i> and get footing <i>in the glorious
land;</i> so the land of Israel was, and <i>by his hand</i> it was
wasted and consumed, for with the spoil of that good land he
victualled his vast army. The land of Judea lay between these two
potent kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, so that in all the struggles
between them that was sure to suffer, for to it they both bore
<i>ill will.</i> Yet some read this, <i>By his hand it shall be
perfected;</i> as if it intimated that the land of Judea, being
taken under the protection of this Antiochus, shall flourish, and
be in better condition than it had been. (3.) He shall still push
on his war against the king of Egypt, and <i>set his face</i> to
<i>enter with the strength of his whole kingdom,</i> taking
advantage of the infancy of Ptolemy Epiphanes, and the <i>upright
ones,</i> many of the pious Israelites, siding with him, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.17" parsed="|Dan|11|17|0|0" passage="Da 11:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. In prosecution of his
design, he shall give him his daughter Cleopatra to wife,
designing, as Saul in giving his daughter Cleopatra to David, that
she should be a <i>snare to him,</i> and do him a mischief; but she
<i>shall not stand on her father's</i> side, nor be <i>for him,</i>
but for her husband, and so that plot failed him. (4.) His war with
the Romans is here foretold (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.18" parsed="|Dan|11|18|0|0" passage="Da 11:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): He shall <i>turn his face to the isles</i>
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.18" parsed="|Dan|11|18|0|0" passage="Da 11:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), the isles
of the Gentiles (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.10.5" parsed="|Gen|10|5|0|0" passage="Ge 10:5">Gen. x. 5</scripRef>),
Greece and Italy. He took many of the isles about the
Hellespont-Rhodes, Samos, Delos, &amp;c., which by war or treaty he
made himself master of; but a <i>prince,</i> or <i>state</i> (so
some), even the Roman senate, or a <i>leader,</i> even the Roman
general, shall <i>return his reproach</i> with which he abused the
Romans <i>upon himself,</i> or shall <i>make his shame rest on
himself,</i> and <i>without his own shame,</i> or any disgrace to
himself, shall <i>pay him again.</i> This was fulfilled when the
two Scipios were sent with an army against Antiochus. Hannibal was
then with him, and advised him to invade Italy and waste it as he
had done; but he did not take his advice; and Scipio joined battle
with him, and gave him a total defeat, though Antiochus had 70,000
men and the Romans but 30,000. Thus he caused the <i>reproach
offered by him to cease.</i> (5.) His fall. When he was totally
routed by the Romans, and was forced to abandon to them all he had
in Europe, and had a very heavy tribute exacted from him, he
<i>turned to his own land,</i> and, not knowing which way to raise
money to pay his tribute, he plundered a temple of Jupiter, which
so incensed his own subjects against him that they set upon him,
and killed him; so he was overthrown, and <i>fell,</i> and <i>was
no more found,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.11" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.19" parsed="|Dan|11|19|0|0" passage="Da 11:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. (6.) His next successor, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p9.12" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.20" parsed="|Dan|11|20|0|0" passage="Da 11:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. There rose up one in his place,
a <i>raiser of taxes,</i> a <i>sender forth of the extortioner,</i>
or extorter. This character was remarkably answered in Seleucus
Philopater, the elder son of Antiochus the Great, who was a great
oppressor of his own subjects, and exacted abundance of money from
them; and, when he was told he would thereby lose his friends, he
said he knew no better friend he had than <i>money.</i> He likewise
attempted to rob the temple at Jerusalem, which this seems
especially to refer to. But <i>within a few days he shall be
destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle,</i> but poisoned by
Heliodorus, one of his own servants, when he had reigned but twelve
years, and done nothing remarkable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p10" shownumber="no">V. From all this let us learn, 1. That God
in his providence sets up one, and pulls down another, as he
pleases, advances some from low beginnings and depresses others
that were very high. Some have called great men the <i>foot-balls
of fortune;</i> or, rather, they are the <i>tools of
Providence.</i> 2. This world is full of <i>wars and fightings,</i>
which come <i>from men's lusts,</i> and make it a theatre of sin
and misery. 3. All the changes and revolutions of states and
kingdoms, and every event, even the most minute and contingent,
were plainly and perfectly foreseen by the God of heaven, and to
him nothing is <i>new.</i> 4. No word of God shall fall to the
ground; but what he has designed, what he has declared, shall
infallibly come to pass; and even the sins of men shall be made to
serve his purpose, and contribute to the b ringing of his counsels
to birth in their season; and yet <i>God is not the author of
sin.</i> 5. That, for the right understanding of some parts of
scripture, it is necessary that heathen authors be consulted, which
give light to the scripture, and show the accomplishment of what is
there foretold; we have therefore reason to bless God for the human
learning with which many have done great service to divine
truths.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.xii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.21-Dan.11.45" parsed="|Dan|11|21|11|45" passage="Da 11:21-45" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.xii-p10.2">
<h4 id="Dan.xii-p10.3">The Reign of Antiochus Epiphanes; Cruelty
and Impiety of Antiochus; The Death of Antiochus. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.xii-p10.4">b.
c.</span> 534.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.xii-p11" shownumber="no">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 <i>made</i> 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
<i>that</i> which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers'
fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and
riches: <i>yea,</i> 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 <i>shall be</i> to do mischief, and they shall speak
lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end
<i>shall be</i> at the time appointed.   28 Then shall he
return into his land with great riches; and his heart <i>shall
be</i> against the holy covenant; and he shall do <i>exploits,</i>
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 <i>sacrifice,</i> 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 <i>exploits.</i>   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, <i>many</i> 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 <i>some</i> of them of understanding
shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make <i>them</i>
white, <i>even</i> to the time of the end: because <i>it is</i> yet
for a time appointed.   36 And the king shall do according to
his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above
every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of
gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for
that that is determined shall be done.   37 Neither shall he
regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard
any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.   38 But in
his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his
fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with
precious stones, and pleasant things.   39 Thus shall he do in
the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge
<i>and</i> increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule
over many, and shall divide the land for gain.   40 And at the
time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the
king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with
chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall
enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.  
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many
<i>countries</i> shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of
his hand, <i>even</i> Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children
of Ammon.   42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the
countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.   43 But he
shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over
all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the
Ethiopians <i>shall be</i> at his steps.   44 But tidings out
of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he
shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away
many.   45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace
between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come
to his end, and none shall help him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p12" shownumber="no">All this is a prophecy of the reign of
Antiochus Epiphanes, the <i>little horn</i> spoken of before
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.9" parsed="|Dan|8|9|0|0" passage="Da 8:9"><i>ch.</i> viii. 9</scripRef>) a sworn
enemy to the Jewish religion, and a bitter persecutor of those that
adhered to it. What troubles the Jews met with in the reigns of the
Persian kings were not so particularly foretold to Daniel as these,
because then they had living prophets with them, Haggai and
Zechariah, to encourage them; but these troubles in the days of
Antiochus were foretold, because, before that time, prophecy would
cease, and they would find it necessary to have recourse to the
written word. Some things in this prediction concerning Antiochus
are alluded to in the New-Testament predictions of the antichrist,
especially <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.36-Dan.11.37" parsed="|Dan|11|36|11|37" passage="Da 11:36,37"><i>v.</i> 36,
37</scripRef>. And as it is usual with the prophets, when they
foretel the prosperity of the Jewish church, to make use of such
expressions as were applicable to the <i>kingdom of Christ,</i> and
insensibly to slide into a prophecy of that, so, when they foretel
the troubles of the church, they make use of such expressions as
have a further reference to the kingdom of the antichrist, the rise
and ruin of that. Now concerning Antiochus, the angel foretels
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p13" shownumber="no">I. His character: He shall be a <i>vile
person.</i> He called himself <i>Epiphanes—the illustrious,</i>
but his character was the reverse of his surname. The heathen
writers describe him to be an <i>odd-humoured</i> man, rude and
boisterous, base and sordid. He would sometimes steal out of the
court into the city, and herd with any infamous company
<i>incognito—in disguise</i> he made himself a companion of the
common sort, and of the basest strangers that came to town. He had
the most unaccountable whims, so that some took him to be silly,
others to be mad. Hence he was called <i>Epimanes—the madman.</i>
He is called a <i>vile person,</i> for he had been a long time a
hostage at Rome for the fidelity of his father when the Romans had
subdued him; and it was agreed that, when the other hostages were
exchanged, he should continue a prisoner at large.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p14" shownumber="no">II. His accession to the crown. By a trick
he got his elder brother's son, Demetrius, to be sent a hostage to
Rome, in exchange for him, contrary to the cartel; and, his elder
brother being made away with by Heliodorus (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.20" parsed="|Dan|11|20|0|0" passage="Da 11:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), he took the kingdom. The
states of Syria did not <i>give it</i> to <i>him</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.21" parsed="|Dan|11|21|0|0" passage="Da 11:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), because they knew it
belonged to his elder brother's son, nor did he get it by the
sword, but <i>came in peaceably,</i> pretending to reign for his
brother's son, Demetrius, then a hostage at Rome. But with the help
of Eumenes and Attalus, neighbouring princes, he gained an interest
in the people, and <i>by flatteries obtained the kingdom,</i>
established himself in it, and crushed Heliodorus, who made head
against him <i>with the arms of a flood;</i> those that opposed him
were <i>overflown</i> and <i>broken before him,</i> even <i>the
prince of the covenant,</i> his nephew, the rightful heir, whom he
pretended to covenant with that he would resign to him whenever he
should return, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.22" parsed="|Dan|11|22|0|0" passage="Da 11:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. But (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.23" parsed="|Dan|11|23|0|0" passage="Da 11:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>) <i>after the league made with him he shall work
deceitfully,</i> as one whose avowed maxim it is that princes ought
not to be bound by their word any longer than it is for their
interest. And <i>with a small people,</i> that at first cleave to
him, he shall <i>become strong,</i> and (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.24" parsed="|Dan|11|24|0|0" passage="Da 11:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>) <i>he shall enter peaceably
upon the fattest places</i> of the kingdom of Syria, and, very
unlike his predecessors, shall <i>scatter</i> among the people the
<i>prey, and the spoil, and riches,</i> to insinuate himself into
their affections; but, at the same time, he shall <i>forecast his
devices against the strong-holds,</i> to make himself master of
them, so that his generosity shall last but for a time; when he has
got the garrisons into his hands he will scatter his spoil no more,
but rule by force, as those commonly do that come in by fraud. He
that comes in like a fox reigns like a lion. Some understand
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.21-Dan.11.35" parsed="|Dan|11|21|11|35" passage="Da 11:21-35">these verses</scripRef> of his
first expedition into Egypt, when he came not as an enemy, but as a
friend and guardian to the young king Ptolemæus Philometer, and
therefore brought with him but few followers, yet those stout men,
and faithful to his interest, whom he placed in divers of the
strong-holds in Egypt, thereby making himself master of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p15" shownumber="no">III. His war with Egypt, which was his
second expedition thither. This is described, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.25 Bible:Dan.11.27" parsed="|Dan|11|25|0|0;|Dan|11|27|0|0" passage="Da 11:25,27"><i>v.</i> 25, 27</scripRef>. Antiochus shall <i>stir
up his power and courage</i> against Ptolemæus Philometer king of
Egypt. Ptolemy, thereupon, shall <i>be stirred up to battle</i>
against him, shall come against him <i>with a very great and mighty
army;</i> but Ptolemy, though he has such a vast army, shall not be
able to stand before him; for Antiochus's army shall
<i>overthrow</i> his, and overpower it, and great multitudes of the
Egyptian army shall <i>fall down slain.</i> And no marvel, for the
king of Egypt shall be betrayed by his own counsellors; those that
<i>feed of the portion of his meat,</i> that eat of his bread and
live upon him, being bribed by Antiochus, shall <i>forecast devices
against him,</i> and even <i>they shall destroy him;</i> and what
fence is there against such treachery? After the battle, a treaty
of peace shall be set on foot, and these two kings shall meet <i>at
one council-board,</i> to adjust the articles of peace between
them; but they shall neither of them be sincere in it, for they
shall, in their pretences and promises of amity and friendship,
<i>lie to one another,</i> for their hearts shall be at the same
time to do one another all the mischief they can. And then no
marvel that <i>it shall not prosper.</i> The peace shall not last;
but <i>the end</i> of it shall be <i>at the time appointed</i> in
the divine Providence, and then the war shall break out again, as a
sore that is only skinned over.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p16" shownumber="no">IV. Another expedition against Egypt. From
the former he <i>returned with great riches</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.28" parsed="|Dan|11|28|0|0" passage="Da 11:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>), and therefore took the first
occasion to invade Egypt again, <i>at the time appointed</i> by the
divine Providence, two years after, in the eighth year of his
reign, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.29" parsed="|Dan|11|29|0|0" passage="Da 11:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. He
shall come <i>towards the south.</i> But this attempt shall not
succeed, as the two former did, nor shall he gain his point, as he
had done before once and again; for (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.30" parsed="|Dan|11|30|0|0" passage="Da 11:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>) <i>the ships of Chittim shall
come against him,</i> that is, the navy of the Romans, or only
ambassadors from the Roman senate, who came in ships. Ptolemæus
Philometer, king of Egypt, being now in a strict alliance with the
Romans, craved their aid against Antiochus, who had besieged him
and his mother Cleopatra in the city of Alexandria. The Roman
senate thereupon sent an embassy to Antiochus, to command him to
raise the siege, and, when he desired some time to consider of it
and consult with his friends about it, Popilius, one of the
ambassadors, with his staff drew a circle about him, and told him,
as one having authority, he should give a positive answer before he
came out of that circle; whereupon, fearing the Roman power, he was
forced immediately to give orders for the raising of the siege and
the retreat of his army out of Egypt. So Livy and others relate the
story which this prophecy refers to. <i>He shall be grieved, and
return;</i> for it was a great vexation to him to be forced to
yield thus.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p17" shownumber="no">V. His rage and cruel practices against the
Jews. This is that part of his government, or mis-government
rather, which is most enlarged upon in this prediction. In his
return from his expedition into Egypt (which is prophesied of,
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.28" parsed="|Dan|11|28|0|0" passage="Da 11:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>) he <i>did
exploits</i> against the Jews, in the sixth year of his reign; then
he spoiled the city and temple. But the most terrible storm was in
his return from Egypt, two years after, prophesied of <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.30" parsed="|Dan|11|30|0|0" passage="Da 11:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. Then he took Judea in
his way home; and, because he could not gain his point in Egypt by
reason of the Romans interposing, he wreaked his revenge upon the
poor Jews, who gave him no provocation, but had greatly provoked
God to permit him to do it, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.23" parsed="|Dan|8|23|0|0" passage="Da 8:23">Dan. viii.
23</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p18" shownumber="no">1. He had a rooted antipathy to the Jews'
religion: <i>His heart</i> was <i>against the holy covenant,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.28" parsed="|Dan|11|28|0|0" passage="Da 11:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. And
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.30" parsed="|Dan|11|30|0|0" passage="Da 11:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>) <i>he had
indignation against the holy covenant,</i> that covenant of
peculiarity by which the Jews were incorporated a people distinct
from all other nations, and dignified above them. He hated the law
of Moses and the worship of the true God, and was vexed at the
privileges of the Jewish nation and the promises made to them.
Note, That which is the hope and joy of the people of God is the
envy of their neighbours, and that is <i>the holy covenant.</i>
Esau hated Jacob because he had got the blessing. Those that are
strangers to the covenant are often enemies to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p19" shownumber="no">2. He carried on his malicious designs
against the Jews by the assistance of some perfidious apostate
Jews. He kept up <i>intelligence with those that forsook the holy
covenant</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.30" parsed="|Dan|11|30|0|0" passage="Da 11:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>), some of the Jews that were false to their religion,
and introduced the customs of the heathen, with whom they made a
covenant. See the fulfilling of this, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.11-1Macc.1.15" parsed="|1Macc|1|11|1|15" passage="1 Mac. i. 11-15">1 Mac. i. 11-15</scripRef>, where
it is expressly said, concerning those renegado Jews, that they
<i>made themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy covenant.</i>
We read (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.4.9" parsed="|2Macc|4|9|0|0" passage="2 Mac. iv. 9">2 Mac. iv. 9</scripRef>) of Jason, the brother of Onias the
high priest, who by the appointment of Antiochus set up a school at
Jerusalem, <i>for the training up of youth in the fashions of the
heathen;</i> and (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.4.23" parsed="|2Macc|4|23|0|0" passage="2 Mac. iv. 23">2 Mac. iv. 23</scripRef>, &amp;c.) of Menelaus, who
fell in with the interests of Antiochus, and was the man that
helped him into Jerusalem, now in his last return from Egypt. We
read much in the book of the Maccabees of the mischief done to the
Jews by these treacherous men of their own nation, Jason and
Menelaus, and their party. These upon all occasions he made use of.
"<i>Such as do wickedly against the covenant,</i> such as throw up
their religion, and comply with the heathen, he shall <i>corrupt
with flatteries,</i> to harden them in their apostasy, and to make
use of them as decoys to draw in others," <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.32" parsed="|Dan|11|32|0|0" passage="Da 11:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. Note, It is not strange if
those who do not live up to their religion, but in their
conversations <i>do wickedly against the covenant,</i> are easily
<i>corrupted by flatteries</i> to quit their religion. Those that
make shipwreck of a good conscience will soon <i>make shipwreck of
the faith.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p20" shownumber="no">3. He profaned the temple. <i>Arms stand on
his part</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.31" parsed="|Dan|11|31|0|0" passage="Da 11:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>), not only his own army which he now brought from
Egypt, but a great party of deserters from the Jewish religion that
joined with them; and they <i>polluted the sanctuary of
strength,</i> not only the holy city, but the temple. The story of
this we have, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.21" parsed="|1Macc|1|21|0|0" passage="1 Mac. i. 21">1 Mac. i. 21</scripRef>, &amp;c. He <i>entered proudly
into the sanctuary,</i> took <i>away the golden altar, and the
candlestick,</i> &amp;c. And therefore (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.25" parsed="|Dan|11|25|0|0" passage="Da 11:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>) <i>there was a great mourning
in Israel; the princes and elders mourned,</i> &amp;c. And (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.5.15" parsed="|2Macc|5|15|0|0" passage="2 Mac. v. 15">2
Mac. v. 15</scripRef>, &amp;c.) <i>Antiochus went into the most holy
temple, Menelaus, that traitor to the laws and to his own country,
being his guide.</i> Antiochus, having resolved to bring all about
him to be of his religion, <i>took away the daily sacrifice,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.31" parsed="|Dan|11|31|0|0" passage="Da 11:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. Some observe
that the word <i>Tammidh,</i> which signifies no more than
<i>daily,</i> is only here, and in the parallel place, used for the
<i>daily sacrifice,</i> as if there were a designed liberty left to
supply it either with <i>sacrifice,</i> which was suppressed by
Antiochus, or with <i>gospel-worship,</i> which was suppressed by
the Antichrist. Then he <i>set up the abomination of desolation
upon the altar</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.54" parsed="|1Macc|1|54|0|0" passage="1 Mac. i. 54">1 Mac. i. 54</scripRef>), even an <i>idol altar</i>
(<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.7"><i>v.</i> 59</scripRef>), and called the temple the temple of
<i>Jupiter Olympius,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.6.2" parsed="|2Macc|6|2|0|0" passage="2 Mac. vi. 2">2 Mac. vi. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p21" shownumber="no">4. He persecuted those who retained their
integrity. Though there are many who <i>forsake the covenant</i>
and <i>do wickedly</i> against it, yet there is a people who do
<i>know their God</i> and retain the knowledge of him, and <i>they
shall be strong and do exploits,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.32" parsed="|Dan|11|32|0|0" passage="Da 11:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. When others yield to the
tyrant's demands, and surrender their consciences to his
impositions, they bravely keep their ground, resist the temptation,
and make the tyrant himself ashamed of his attempt upon them. Good
old Eleazar, one of the <i>principal scribes,</i> when he had
swine's flesh thrust into his mouth, did bravely spit it out again,
though he knew he must be tormented to death for so doing, and was
so, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.6.19" parsed="|2Macc|6|19|0|0" passage="2 Mac. vi. 19">2 Mac. vi. 19</scripRef>. The mother and her seven sons were put to
death for adhering to their religion, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.7" parsed="|2Macc|7|0|0|0" passage="2 Mac. vii">2 Mac. vii</scripRef>. This might
well be called <i>doing exploits;</i> for to choose suffering
rather than sin is a great exploit. And it was <i>by faith,</i> by
being <i>strong in faith,</i> that they did those exploits, that
<i>they were tortured, not accepting deliverance,</i> as the
apostle speaks, probably with reference to that story, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.35" parsed="|Heb|11|35|0|0" passage="Heb 11:35">Heb. xi. 35</scripRef>. Or it may refer to the
military courage and achievements of Judas Maccabæus and others in
opposition to Antiochus. Note, The right knowledge of God is, and
will be, the strength of the soul, and, in the strength of that,
gracious souls do exploits. <i>Those that know his name will put
their trust in him,</i> and by that trust will do great things.
Now, concerning this people that knew their God, we are here told,
(1.) That <i>they shall instruct many,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.33" parsed="|Dan|11|33|0|0" passage="Da 11:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. They shall make it their
business to show others what they have learned themselves of the
difference between truth and falsehood, good and evil. Note, Those
that have the knowledge of God themselves should communicate their
knowledge to those about them, and this spiritual charity must be
extensive: they must <i>instruct many.</i> Some understand this of
a society newly erected for the propagating of divine knowledge,
called <i>Assideans,</i> godly men, <i>pietists</i> (so the name
signifies), that were both knowing and zealous in the law; these
instructed many. Note, In times of persecution and apostasy, which
are trying times, those that have knowledge ought to make use of it
for the strengthening and establishing of others. Those that
understand aright themselves ought to do what they can to bring
others to understand; for knowledge is a talent that must be traded
with. Or, They shall instruct many by their perseverance in their
duty and their patient suffering for it. Good examples instruct
many, and with many are the most powerful instructions. (2.)
<i>They shall fall</i> by the cruelty of Antiochus, shall be put to
the torture, and put to death, by his rage. Though they are so
excellent and intelligent themselves, and so useful and serviceable
to others, yet Antiochus shall show them no mercy, but <i>they
shall fall for some days;</i> so it may be read, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.10" parsed="|Rev|2|10|0|0" passage="Re 2:10">Rev. ii. 10</scripRef>, <i>Thou shalt have tribulation
ten days.</i> We read much, in the books of the Maccabees, of
Antiochus's barbarous usage of the pious Jews, how many he slew in
wars and how many he murdered in cold blood. Women were <i>put to
death</i> for having their children <i>circumcised,</i> and their
<i>infants were hanged about their necks,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.60-1Macc.1.61" parsed="|1Macc|1|60|1|61" passage="1 Mac. i. 60, 61">1 Mac. i. 60,
61</scripRef>. But why did God suffer this? How can this be reconciled
with the justice and goodness of God? I answer, Very well, if we
consider what it was that God aimed at in this (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.35" parsed="|Dan|11|35|0|0" passage="Da 11:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>): <i>Some of those of
understanding shall fall,</i> but it shall be for the good of the
church and for their own spiritual benefit. <i>It shall</i> be to
<i>try them, and to purge, and to make them white.</i> They
<i>needed</i> these afflictions themselves. The best have their
spots, which must be washed off, their dross, which must be purged
out; and their troubles, particularly their <i>share in the public
troubles,</i> help to do this; being sanctified to them by the
grace of God, they are means of mortifying their corruptions,
weaning them from the world, and awakening them to greater
seriousness and diligence in religion. They try them, as silver in
the furnace is refined from its dross; they purge them, as wheat in
the barn is winnowed from the chaff; and they <i>make them
white,</i> as cloth by the fuller is cleared from its spots. See
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.9" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.7" parsed="|1Pet|1|7|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:7">1 Pet. i. 7</scripRef>. Their
sufferings <i>for righteousness' sake</i> would try and purge the
nation of the Jews, would convince them of the truth, excellency,
and power of that holy religion which these <i>understanding</i>
men died for their adherence to. The blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the church; it is precious blood, and not a drop of it
should be shed but upon such a valuable consideration. (3.) The
cause of religion, though it be thus run upon, shall not be run
down. <i>When they shall fall</i> they shall not be utterly cast
down, but <i>they shall be holpen with a little help,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.10" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.34" parsed="|Dan|11|34|0|0" passage="Da 11:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>. Judas Maccabæus, and
his brethren, and a few with them, shall <i>make head</i> against
the tyrant, and assert the injured cause of their religion; they
<i>pulled down the</i> idolatrous <i>altars, circumcised the
children that they found uncircumcised, recovered the law out of
the hand of the Gentiles, and the work prospered in their
hands,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.11" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.2.45" parsed="|1Macc|2|45|0|0" passage="1 Mac. ii. 45">1 Mac. ii. 45</scripRef>, &amp;c. Note, Those that stand by
the cause of religion when it is threatened and struck at, though
they may not immediately be delivered and made victorious, shall
yet have <i>present help.</i> And a <i>little help</i> must not be
despised; but, when times are very bad, we must be thankful for
<i>some reviving.</i> It is likewise foretold that <i>many shall
cleave to them with flatteries;</i> when they see the Maccabees
prosper some Jews shall join with them that are no true friends to
religion, but will only pretend friendship either with design to
<i>betray them</i> or in hope to <i>rise with them;</i> but the
<i>fiery trial</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p21.12" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.35" parsed="|Dan|11|35|0|0" passage="Da 11:35"><i>v.</i>
35</scripRef>) will separate between the <i>precious and the
vile,</i> and by it <i>those that are perfect will be made
manifest</i> and those that are not. (4.) Though these troubles may
continue long, yet they will have <i>an end.</i> They are <i>for a
time appointed,</i> a limited time, fixed in the divine counsels.
This warfare shall be accomplished. <i>Hitherto</i> the power of
the enemy shall come, and <i>no further;</i> here shall its
<i>proud waves</i> be <i>stayed.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p22" shownumber="no">5. He grew very proud, insolent, and
profane, and, being puffed up with his conquests, bade defiance to
Heaven, and trampled upon every thing that was sacred, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.36" parsed="|Dan|11|36|0|0" passage="Da 11:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>, &amp;c. And here some
think begins a prophecy of the antichrist, the papal kingdom. It is
plain that St. Paul, in his prophecy of the rise and reign of the
man of sin, alludes to this (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.2.4" parsed="|2Thess|2|4|0|0" passage="2Th 2:4">2 Thess.
ii. 4</scripRef>), which shows that Antiochus was a type and figure
of that enemy, as Babylon also was; but, this being joined in a
continued discourse with the foregoing prophecies concerning
Antiochus, to me it seems probably that it principally refers to
him, and in him had its primary accomplishment, and has reference
to the other only by way of accommodation. (1.) He shall impiously
dishonour the God of Israel, the only living and true God, called
here the <i>God of gods.</i> He shall, in defiance of him and his
authority, <i>do according to his will</i> against his people and
his holy religion; he shall <i>exalt himself</i> above him, as
Sennacherib did, and shall <i>speak marvellous things against
him</i> and against his laws and institutions. This was fulfilled
when Antiochus forbade <i>sacrifices</i> to be <i>offered</i> in
God's temple, and ordered the <i>sabbaths</i> to be
<i>profaned,</i> the <i>sanctuary</i> and the <i>holy people</i> to
be <i>polluted,</i> &amp;c., to <i>the end that they might forget
the law and change all the ordinances,</i> and this upon pain of
death, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.45" parsed="|1Macc|1|45|0|0" passage="1 Mac. i. 45">1 Mac. i. 45</scripRef>. (2.) He shall proudly put contempt upon
<i>all other gods,</i> shall <i>magnify himself above every
god,</i> even the gods of the nations. Antiochus wrote to his own
kingdom that every one should leave the gods he had worshipped, and
worship such as he ordered, contrary to the practice of all the
conquerors that went before him, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.1.41-1Macc.1.42" parsed="|1Macc|1|41|1|42" passage="1 Mac. i. 41, 42.">1 Mac. i. 41, 42.</scripRef> And
<i>all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the
king;</i> fond as they were of their gods, they did not think them
worth suffering for, but, their gods being idols, it was all alike
to them what gods they worshipped. Antiochus did not <i>regard any
god,</i> but <i>magnified himself above all,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.37" parsed="|Dan|11|37|0|0" passage="Da 11:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>. He was so proud that he thought
himself above the condition of a mortal man, that he could
<i>command the waves of the sea, and reach to the stars of
heaven,</i> as his insolence and haughtiness are expressed, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.9.8 Bible:2Macc.9.10" parsed="|2Macc|9|8|0|0;|2Macc|9|10|0|0" passage="2 Mac. ix. 8, 10">2
Mac. ix. 8, 10</scripRef>. Thus he carried all before him, <i>till the
indignation was accomplished</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.36" parsed="|Dan|11|36|0|0" passage="Da 11:36"><i>v.</i> 36</scripRef>), till he had run his length,
and filled up the measure of his iniquity; for <i>that which is
determined shall be done,</i> and nothing more, nothing short. (3.)
He shall, contrary to the way of the heathen, disregard the god of
his fathers, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.37" parsed="|Dan|11|37|0|0" passage="Da 11:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>.
Though an affection to the religion of their ancestors was, among
the heathen, almost as natural to them as <i>the desire of
women</i> (for, if you search through <i>the isles of Chittim,</i>
you will not find an instance of a nation that has <i>changed its
gods,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.10-Jer.2.11" parsed="|Jer|2|10|2|11" passage="Jer 2:10,11">Jer. ii. 10,
11</scripRef>), yet Antiochus shall not <i>regard the god of his
fathers;</i> he made laws to abolish the religion of his country,
and to bring in the idols of the Greeks. And though his
predecessors had honoured the God of Israel, and given great gifts
to the temple at Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.10" osisRef="Bible:2Macc.3.2-2Macc.3.3" parsed="|2Macc|3|2|3|3" passage="2 Mac. iii. 2, 3">2 Mac. iii. 2, 3</scripRef>), he offered
the greatest indignities to God and his temple. His not regarding
the <i>desire of women</i> may denote his barbarous cruelty (he
shall spare no age or sex, no, not the tender ones) or his
unnatural lusts, or, in general, his contempt of every thing which
men of honour have a concern for, or it might be accomplished in
something we meet not with in history. Its being joined to his not
<i>regarding the god of his fathers</i> intimates that the
idolatries of his country had in them more of the gratifications of
the flesh than those of other countries (Lucian has written of the
Syrian goddesses), and yet that would not prevail to keep him to
them. (4.) He shall set up an unknown god, a new god, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.11" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.38" parsed="|Dan|11|38|0|0" passage="Da 11:38"><i>v.</i> 38</scripRef>. <i>In his estate,</i>
in the room of the god of his fathers (Apollo and Diana, deities of
pleasure), he shall <i>honour the god of forces,</i> a supposed
deity of power, a <i>god whom his fathers knew not,</i> nor
worshipped; because he will be thought in wisdom and strength to
excel his fathers, he shall <i>honour this god with gold, and
silver, and precious stones,</i> thinking nothing too good for the
god he has taken a fancy to. This seems to be Jupiter Olympius,
known among the Phœnicians by the name of <i>Baal-Semen, the
lord of heaven,</i> but never introduced among the Syrians till
Antiochus introduced it. Thus shall he do <i>in the most strong
holds,</i> in the temple of Jerusalem, which is called <i>the
sanctuary of strength</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p22.12" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.31" parsed="|Dan|11|31|0|0" passage="Da 11:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>), and here the <i>fortresses of munitions; there</i>
he shall set up the image of this <i>strange god.</i> Some read it,
<i>He shall commit the munitions of strength,</i> or of the most
strong God (that is, the city Jerusalem), to <i>a strange god;</i>
he put it under the protection and government of Jupiter Olympius.
This god he shall not only acknowledge, but shall <i>increase with
glory,</i> by setting his image even upon God's altar. And he shall
<i>cause those</i> that minister to this idol <i>to rule over
many,</i> shall put them into places of power and trust, and they
shall <i>divide the land for gain,</i> shall be maintained richly
out of the profits of the country. Some by the <i>Mahuzzim,</i> or
<i>god of forces,</i> that Antiochus shall worship, understand
<i>money,</i> which is said to <i>answer all things,</i> and which
is the great idol of worldly people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p23" shownumber="no">Now here is very much that is applicable to
the <i>man of sin;</i> he <i>exalts himself above all that is
called god or that is worshipped; magnifies himself above all;</i>
his flatterers call him <i>our lord god the pope.</i> By forbidding
marriage, and magnifying the single life, he pretends not to regard
the desire of women; and honours the <i>god of forces,</i> the god
<i>Mahuzzim,</i> or <i>strong holds,</i> saints and angels, whom
his followers take for their protectors, as the heathen did of old
their demons; these they make presidents of several countries,
&amp;c. These they honour with vast treasures dedicated to them,
and therein the learned Mr. Mede thinks that this prophecy was
fulfilled, and that it is referred to <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.4.1-1Tim.4.2" parsed="|1Tim|4|1|4|2" passage="1Ti 4:1,2">1 Tim. iv. 1, 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p24" shownumber="no">VI. Here seems to be another expedition
into Egypt, or, at least, a struggle with Egypt. The Romans had
tied him up from invading Ptolemy, but now that <i>king of the
south pushes at him</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.40" parsed="|Dan|11|40|0|0" passage="Da 11:40"><i>v.</i>
40</scripRef>), makes an attempt upon some of his territories,
where upon Antiochus, the <i>king of the north, comes against him
like a whirlwind,</i> with incredible swiftness and fury, <i>with
chariots, and horses, and many ships,</i> a great force. He shall
<i>come through countries, and shall overflow and pass over.</i> In
this flying march <i>many countries shall be overthrown by him;</i>
and he shall enter into <i>the glorious land,</i> the land of
Israel; it is the same word that is translated <i>the pleasant
land,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.9" parsed="|Dan|8|9|0|0" passage="Da 8:9"><i>ch.</i> viii. 9</scripRef>.
He shall make dreadful work among the nations thereabout; yet some
shall escape his fury, particularly Edom and Moab, and <i>the chief
of the children of Ammon,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.41" parsed="|Dan|11|41|0|0" passage="Da 11:41"><i>v.</i> 41</scripRef>. He did not put these countries
under contribution, because they had joined with him against the
Jews. But especially the land of Egypt <i>shall not escape,</i> but
he will quite beggar that, so bare will he strip it. This some
reckon his fourth and last expedition against Egypt, in the tenth
or eleventh year of his reign, under pretence of assisting the
younger brother of Ptolemæus Philometer against him. We read not of
any great slaughter made in this expedition, but great plunder;
for, it should seem, that was what he came for: <i>He shall have
power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the precious
things of Egypt,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.43" parsed="|Dan|11|43|0|0" passage="Da 11:43"><i>v.</i>
43</scripRef>. Polybius, in Athenæus, relates that Antiochus,
having got together abundance of wealth, by spoiling young
Philometer, and breaking league with him, and by the contributions
of his friends, bestowed a vast deal upon a triumph, in imitation
of Paulus Æmilius, and describes the extravagance of it; here we
are told how he got that money which he spent so profusely. Notice
is here taken likewise of the use he made of the Lybians and
Ethiopians, who bordered upon Egypt; they <i>were at his steps;</i>
he had them at his foot, had them at his beck, and they made
inroads upon Egypt to serve him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p25" shownumber="no">VII. Here is a prediction of the fall and
ruin of Antiochus, as before (<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.25" parsed="|Dan|8|25|0|0" passage="Da 8:25"><i>ch.</i> viii. 25</scripRef>), when he is in the height
of his honour, flushed with victory, and laden with spoils, tidings
<i>out of the east</i> and <i>out of the north</i> (out of the
north-east) shall trouble him, <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.44" parsed="|Dan|11|44|0|0" passage="Da 11:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>. Or, He shall have intelligence,
both from the eastern and northern parts, that the king of Parthia
is invading his kingdom. This obliged him to drop the enterprises
he had in hand, and to go against the Persians and Parthians that
were revolting from him; and this <i>vexed</i> him, for now he
thought utterly to ruin and extirpate the Jewish nation, when that
expedition called him off, in which he perished. This is explained
by a passage in Tacitus (though an impious one) where he commends
Antiochus for his attempt to <i>take away the superstition of the
Jews,</i> and <i>bring in the manners of the Greeks,</i> among them
(<i>ut teterrimam gentem in melius mutaret—to meliorate an odious
nation</i>), and laments that he was hindered from accomplishing it
by the Parthian war. Now here is, 1. The last effort of his rage
against the Jews. When he finds himself perplexed and embarrassed
in his affairs he shall <i>go forth with great fury to destroy and
utterly to make away many,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.44" parsed="|Dan|11|44|0|0" passage="Da 11:44"><i>v.</i> 44</scripRef>. The story of this we have <scripRef id="Dan.xii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:1Macc.3.27" parsed="|1Macc|3|27|0|0" passage="1 Mac. iii. 27">1
Mac. iii. 27</scripRef>, &amp;c., what a rage Antiochus was in when he
heard of the successes of Judas Maccabæus, and the orders he gave
to Lysias to destroy Jerusalem. Then <i>he planted the tabernacles
of his palace,</i> or <i>tents of his court, between the seas,</i>
between the Great Sea and the Dead Sea. He set up his royal
pavilion at Emmaus near Jerusalem, in token that, though he could
not be present himself, yet he gave full power to his captains to
prosecute the war against the Jews with the utmost rigour. He
placed his tent there, as if he had taken possession <i>of the
glorious holy mountain</i> and called it <i>his own.</i> Note, When
impiety grows very impudent we may see its ruin near. 2. His exit:
<i>He shall come to his end and none shall help him;</i> God shall
cut him off in the midst of his days and none shall be able to
prevent his fall. This is the same with that which was foretold
<scripRef id="Dan.xii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.8.35" parsed="|Dan|8|35|0|0" passage="Da 8:35"><i>ch.</i> viii. 25</scripRef> (<i>He
shall be broken without hand</i>), where we took a view of his
miserable end. Note, When God's time shall come to bring proud
oppressors to their end none shall be able to help them, nor
perhaps inclined to help them; for those that covet to be feared by
all when they are in their grandeur, when they come to be in
distress will find themselves loved by none; none will lend them so
much as a hand or a prayer to help them; and, if the Lord do not
help, who shall?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.xii-p26" shownumber="no">Of the kings that came after Antiochus
nothing is here prophesied, for that was the most malicious
mischievous enemy to the church, that was a type of the son of
perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth
and destroy with the brightness of his coming, and none shall help
him.</p>
</div></div2>