Messy History

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Exodus 3:13-15
• Hymn — The God of Abraham Praise
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — 1 Timothy 3:16
• Scripture Reading — Luke 6:27-36
• Hymn — More Love to Thee
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn of Preparation
• Sermon
• Hymn — Commit Now All Your Griefs
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: Messy History

Scripture: Daniel 11:1-20

I. The Who — Characters Involved in the Prophecy

A. Darius the Mede is most likely another name for Cyrus, the first great king of Persia

B. The fourth Persian king is Xerxes (Ahasuerus), known from the book of Esther

1. Esther 1 depicts Xerxes displaying his great riches, confirming the prophecy
2. His wealth and power exceed the previous Persian kings

C. The mighty king of verse 3 is Alexander the Great of Greece

1. His kingdom is broken at his sudden death (around age 32–34) and divided among four generals — north, south, east, and west
2. Previously depicted as a leopard in Daniel 7 for his swift conquests

D. Two of the four divisions receive primary focus

1. The North: Syria, ruled by the Seleucid Empire
2. The South: Egypt, ruled by the Ptolemaic Empire
3. Israel lies between them, making this tension central to the prophecy's ultimate aim

II. The What — Events Described in the Prophecy

A. Verses 5–12: Dominance of the South (Ptolemaic Egypt)

1. Ptolemy II gives his daughter Berenice in marriage to the Seleucid king Antiochus II in 250 BC, seeking a northern foothold
2. Antiochus II's spurned wife Laodice is set aside, then restored after Ptolemy II dies; she poisons Antiochus II and murders Berenice and her son
3. Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III, retaliates — invades the north, captures Laodice, and executes her (verse 7)
4. Continued wars result in repeated Ptolemaic victories, including a battle where the Seleucids lose 17,000 men

B. Verses 13–16: The Rise of Antiochus III and Seleucid Success

1. Antiochus III builds a massive army, defeats Ptolemaic forces in Phoenicia and Palestine
2. By 198 BC, Israel (the "glorious land," verse 16) passes from Ptolemaic to Seleucid control — a pivotal shift setting the stage for later events

C. Verses 17–20: Seleucid Overreach and Decline

1. Antiochus III betroths his daughter Cleopatra (not the later Cleopatra) to Ptolemy V, attempting the same strategy in reverse; she sides with Egypt instead
2. Antiochus III campaigns against Mediterranean coastlands; Rome warns him not to enter Greece — he ignores the warning, is defeated, and the Seleucid Empire becomes a Roman tributary
3. Forced to pay tribute, Antiochus III robs a temple of Zeus and is killed by its worshipers
4. His son Seleucus IV inherits the tribute obligation, sends his general Heliodorus to plunder the Jerusalem temple treasury; Heliodorus later poisons Seleucus IV — fulfilling verse 20: "within a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle"
5. This passage (verses 1–20) serves as a primer for verse 21 onward, where Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the abomination of desolation come into view

III. The So What — Reflections for the Church

A. The God of the Hebrews declares the end from the beginning

1. Daniel writes in the mid-to-late 500s BC and describes events of the 200s–100s BC with intricate precision
2. Isaiah 46:9-10: "I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning"
3. This is one of Scripture's clearest demonstrations that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord of history — an anchor for faith in difficult days

B. Do not trust mortal kingdoms; trust the God who stands over them

1. A recurring pattern of but throughout the passage: every scheme is frustrated (verses 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
2. Arranged marriages, military campaigns, and power grabs all fail
3. Only God's counsel stands — Isaiah 46:10: "My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose"

C. The people of God are often helpless victims of world power struggles

1. Israel is geographically squeezed between the Seleucids (north) and Ptolemies (south) — a vice closing in on the covenant people
2. Romans 8:28 applies not only to individual suffering but to all of human history — events in distant nations are being worked out for the good of those who love God
3. Ephesians 1:22: Christ is head over all things for the church — his sovereign rule over kingdoms and tribal disputes is ultimately for the glory of his body

D. The exile marks a decisive shift in redemptive history: the kingdom advances by the cross, not the sword

1. Before exile, Israel was a theocratic nation where God blessed military victory; that era effectively ended with the exile and never fully returned
2. After the exile, God's purposes for his people are carried out within pagan kingdoms and through suffering at pagan hands
3. 1 Chronicles 22:8: David could not build God's house because he was a man of war who shed blood; Christ qualifies as the Davidic king who builds his house because his own blood is shed by his enemies
4. Peter's impulse to protect Jesus with a sword (cutting off the servant's ear) is rebuked — the kingdom comes not by sword but by cross
5. In every sphere of influence — marriage, family, work, church, neighborhood — believers are either bearing the sword in pride (serving kingdoms of this world) or bearing the cross in humility (serving the kingdom of God)
6. The kingdoms that bear the sword rise and fall; the cross-bearing church is the one against which the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18)