Diving into Daniel: A Mighty King
Daniel 11:1-4 - The prophecies in Daniel 11 are among the greatest in God’s scripture. Of course they will be attacked by the enemy!
““In the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece. And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases. But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.”
Daniel 11:1-4 NASB1995
At the end of my last devotional, I thought that I would do my next devotional on Daniel 11:1-3, but after reading commentary, I decided to add verse 4 to this devotional. Most commentators agree that verse 1 actually belongs at the end of the 10th chapter. Also, this chapter is extremely specific in the prophecies that are revealed. Here is what Enduring Word says in an introduction to Daniel 11 in that commentary:
This chapter contains one of the most specifically fulfilled prophecies of the Bible, predicting history over some 375 years, and to the end, with amazing accuracy.
The chapter is so specific, that many critics who deny supernatural revelation, have insisted that it is history, written after the fact, fraudulently claiming to be prophecy.
Because of the detail of the prophecy, we will be forced to frequently summarize; and the fulfillment of the prophecy will be observed as it is described.
Commentator Joyce Baldwin explains the mindset of late-daters: “Though all of this is presented as if it were future, the considered opinion of most scholars is that the writer was using an accepted literary form, which would have deceived no-one. The intention would be to show that the course of history was under God’s direction, and so achieving His purposes… When the history becomes prophecy the transition can be detected, because events proved him wrong.”
Such a view must undermine confidence in the entire book. If the late dating theory is correct, then “the so-called revelation was in fact nothing of the sort… it follows that the preparation for the vision in chapter 10 was also a fiction put in as local colour for the sake of effect.” (Baldwin)
So when did this opinion initially arise, that Daniel cannot be prophecy but only history after the fact? According Donald Campbell, quoted in Precept Austin, the viewpoints that undermine Daniel can be traced back to the 3rd century A.D.:
"Porphyry, a third-century A.D. philosopher, was one of the first to take the position that the Book of Daniel was historical fiction, written by someone in Judea about 165 B.C. to encourage resistance against Antiochus Epiphanes. His conclusion was based on the presupposition that predictive prophecy was impossible and that since chapter 11 speaks so accurately of events in the intertestamental period it must be history and not prophecy. Unfortunately, the views of Porphyry did not die with him. Rather, as R. K. Harrison states, "Objections to the historicity of Daniel were copied uncritically from book to book, and by the second decade of the twentieth century no scholar of general liberal background who wished to preserve his academic reputation desired to challenge the current critical trend" (Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 1111) (Daniel God's Man in a Secular Society.)
Porphyry also wrote screeds against Christians and Christianity and in support of paganism and neoplatonism philosophies; a 15-book series “Against the Christians” was rebutted by many of the leading Christians at the time, including Augustine, Eusebius, and Jerome and was banned by early church leaders (only the rebuttals can be found today). Porphyry saw Christians as treasonous and immoral and deserving of death if they would not recant; he described Jesus and the apostles as fake magicians who were in it for the money that could be donated from wealthy women (whoa!).
When I was wandering lost in the secular wilderness many years ago, I relished the anti-Christian screeds that humanists would write (oh dear Lord forgive me again). It never dawned on me until I came back to belief that their focus was almost entirely on Christianity, yet similar rantings and ravings against Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Paganism and other creeds were almost non-existent (Islam did get a few, but these were done anonymously because of cowardly fear). It sounds like this “philosopher” Porphyry probably inspired many future antichrists like Marx, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Voltaire, and Freud (to name a few). It is so important that Christians develop a coherent apologia for their faith! That can best be done by moving beyond superficial studies of God’s Word.
The heavenly messenger was an encouragement and protector for Darius the Mede. According to Gotquestions.org, here is what Darius the Mede did in continuing the work begun by Cyrus and explains why he was protected:
When Darius became king, construction of the temple resumed in the second year of his reign. But the Jews’ enemies again attempted to thwart their efforts. Tattenai, the Persian governor of Judea, wrote a letter to Darius in an effort to turn the king against the Israelites and stop the building of the temple. But Darius responded by commanding Tattenai and his companions to stay far away from the site and let the Jewish elders continue with the rebuilding. Furthermore, the king decreed that the Jewish workers were to be paid from the royal treasury, that the builders would be given whatever was needed for the burnt offerings, and that anyone attempting to destroy the temple or disobey his decree would be impaled on a beam from his own house, which would be made a pile of rubble (Ezra 6:1–12). By his decrees, Darius I showed himself to be a friend of Israel, and the Jews in Jerusalem prospered under his watch. The temple was completed in the sixth year of his reign (Ezra 6:15).
So now the messenger talks about three more kings arising in Persia and finally a fourth king. According to Precept Austin these are the major kings, with links to Wikipedia articles about them:
(1) Cambyses II (530-522BC)
(2) Smerdis (522BC)
(3) Darius I Hystaspes (522-486BC)
(4) Xerxes I (486-464BC)
Note: Darius I Hystapes, is not the same Darius mentioned in the beginning of this chapter.
Xerxes I was indeed incredibly wealthy. At the link for him, the size of the Persian army and the battles against Greece are described, including the famous Battle of Thermopylae and the subsequent sea Battle of Salamis (see map). He aroused the entire Persian empire against Greece. Note that these Persian kings, as described in Daniel 10, are “attended to” by a prince of darkness, the prince of Persia.
United States Military Academy - in the Public Domain created by a US government agency (found on Wikipedia).
But now another mighty king arises! This king can do what he wants and rules with authority! He conquers much of the known world at the time. But after he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out to four others. Who is this king? Enduring Word has excellent commentary about Alexander the Great and quotes at length the historian Josephus:
Shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will: This was fulfilled in Alexander the Great, who certainly was a mighty king. Alexander died at 32 years of age of a fever after a drunken party in Babylon.
This prophecy does not mainly concern Alexander because he did no harm to Jerusalem, though he conquered the general area. The ancient historian Josephus records the interesting arrival of Alexander the Great to Jerusalem, and how he was shown the Book of Daniel by the high priest (whom Alexander had previously seen in a vision). Alexander was so impressed that he spared Jerusalem and granted it religious toleration.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book XI, chapter 8:
Now Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to Jerusalem; and Jaddua the high priest, when he heard that, was in an agony, and under terror, as not knowing how he should meet the Macedonians, since the king was displeased at his forgoing disobedience. He therefore ordained that the people should make supplications, and should join with him in offering sacrifices to God, whom he besought to protect that nation, and to deliver them from the perils that were coming upon them; whereupon God warned him in a dream, which came upon him after he had offered sacrifice, that he should take courage, and adorn the city, and open the gates; that the rest appear in white garments, but that he and the priests should meet the king in the habits proper to their order, without the dread of any ill consequences, which the providence of God would prevent. Upon which, when he rose from his sleep, he greatly rejoiced; and declared to all the warning he had received from God. According to which dream he acted entirely, and so waited for the coming of the king.
And when he understood that he was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the priests and the multitude of the citizens. The procession was venerable, and the manner of it different from that of other nations…. [The approaching army] thought they should have liberty to plunder the city, and torment the high priest to death, which the king’s displeasure fairly promised them, the very reverse of it happened; for Alexander, when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high-priest in purple and scarlet clothing, with his mitre on his head having the golden plate on which the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself, and adored that name, and first saluted the high-priest.
The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute Alexander, and encompass him about: whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest were surprised at what Alexander had done, and supposed him disordered in his mind. However, Parmenio alone went up to him, and asked him how it came to pass, that when all others adored him, he should adore the high-priest of the Jews? To whom he replied, “I did not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with that high-priesthood, for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios, in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind.”
And when he had said this to Parmenio, and had given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came into the city; and when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high-priest’s direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests. And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the present, but the next day he called them to him, and bade them ask what favors they pleased of him: whereupon the high-priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired: and when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired.
Not among his posterity: After Alexander’s death, none of his descendants succeeded him. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Alexander did leave three possible heirs: a half brother named Philip, who was mentally deficient; a son who was born after Alexander died; and an illegitimate son named Hercules. The half-brother and the posthumous son were first designated co-monarchs, each with a regent. But fighting amongst the regents eventually resulted in the murder of all possible heirs.
Divided toward the four winds of heaven: After the death of all Alexander’s possible heirs, four generals controlled the Greek Empire, but none of them according to his (Alexander’s) dominion.
The rest of this prophecy focuses on two of the four inheritors of Alexander’s realm, and the dynasties they established. Only two are focused on because they constantly fought over the Promised Land because it sat between their centers of power.
Well, you learn something new every day! I did not know that Alexander was touched by a vision of the high priest of Jerusalem and was also shown the prophecies in Daniel (wait, I thought that book was written after the fact - insert sarcasm here). Alexander spared the Jews and Jerusalem and granted them religious tolerance but his inheritors were not so kind.
My next devotional examines Daniel 11:5-6 - The kings of the North and of the South and a marriage of convenience.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - In the spiritual battles that rage around this planet and in the supernatural realm, thank you again for rescuing me from the evil minds of those who deny Your divinity and Your sovereignty over all. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Gotquestions was accessed on 5/21/2025 to answer the question, “Who was Darius the Mede”.
Precept Austin was accessed on 5/21/2025 to review commentary for Daniel 11:1-4.
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik is used with written permission. The excerpted commentary has had minor formatting changes for improved readability (no content changes).