Daniel
Prophecies from the Lions’ Den
Lesson 7: Prophecy of Turmoil and Promise of Help
Daniel 11 & 12
Chapter 11 South and North
The Lord gives Daniel many details about the happenings in the Seleucus and Ptolemy and their descendants. The kings of the North are the Seleucids and they are basically in the area of Syria. The kings of the South are the Ptolemies and are in the area of Egypt. That puts Israel in the middle of these two battling dynasties.
Chapter 11 gives some of the most detailed prophecies of Scripture and as we can match up these prophecies with historically events as we look back. God’s Word is true!
If you want more details about these events, get the Peoples’ Bible commentary on the book of Daniel. For members of Green Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church, it is available in the church library. You can also order a copy from www.nph.net
12:1-4 Everlasting Life
Who will rise from the dead on the Last Day?
All people. Both the believers and the unbelievers.
What determines whether a person awakes to “everlasting life” or to “shame and everlasting contempt”?
Faith is the difference. Those who believe rise to live forever in heaven. Those who reject Christ rise to die eternally.
Who is a truly wise person and where does that wisdom come from? Consider the following passage in addition to verse 3.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Those who trust in Christ for forgiveness are wise. That wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit given to a person when they are converted by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel.
12:5-13 Daniel’s Last Vision
Who is the man in the white linen who we saw in chapter 10?
The Lord himself.
What comfort do you get from verse 8?
Daniel did not understand the “time, times and half a time” either. If we have trouble understanding everything that God tells us in Scripture, we are not alone.
The 1290 days and the 1335 days give false teachers lots to talk about when they take those as literal days and try to figure out what it means. We can legitimately take these periods of time figuratively. Why can we do that?
This is the language of a vision from the Lord.
In Revelation 11:2, 42 months is the time of persecution under the Antichrist. In Daniel 1290 days is the persecution under the antichrist of the Old Testament, Antiochus. 1290 days is just over 42 months.
These time periods indicate a time of suffering for God’s people but also an end to that time. Hold fast to the truth of the Gospel for just a little bit longer and the Lord will win the victory. Don’t give up when things look bad, the Lord knows the day of victory.
What is the Lord’s answer to Daniel’s question of verse 8?
God tells Daniel to go on his way. Daniel does not need to know the answer to everything. God gives us all the answers we need to know for life and salvation. The date of the Last Day and the exact events of that day are not part of what we need to know.
What are you looking forward to most in heaven?
Matthew 24:30-31 (NIV)
30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
