TUESDAY, JUNE 19
Daniel 11:3-4
Daniel 8:5-7

“… there was none that could
deliver the ram out of his hand.”

A MIGHTY KING SHALL STAND

The name Alexander the Great must rank among the greatest of military geniuses. Within a ten-year period he had conquered the entire civilized world stretching from the Mediterranean shores of Europe and Africa through Asia Minor, the Middle East and on to the doorsteps of India. At the age of thirty-two, he had become the undisputed master of a vast empire.

Daniel’s prophecy described him as a “notable horn” (Dan 8:5) of the male goat. Whitcomb’s comment gives us a proper perspective: “Behind Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and other Medo-Persian kings was a satanic prince against whom the Son of God waged effective war on behalf of Israel, with Michael the righteous archangel (10:13). Then, ‘behold, the prince of Greece is about to come’ (10:20). Under God was Satan. Under Satan was the demonic ‘prince of Greece.’ And under this fallen angel, assigned by Satan to manipulate the kingdom of Greece against Israel, was a man, Alexander. The secular historian, of course, is preoccupied with the earthly scene of kings and battles. But … God’s written and infallible Word gives us, through the Holy Spirit, the full cosmic perspective that we so desperately need to grasp the significance of visible events (cf. Gen 32:1-2; Job 1; Eph 6:12; Rev 12:7-9).

If the earthly kings of Medo-Persia and Greece reflect their demonic counterparts in the invisible world, so also does Alexander the Great anticipate the final mighty and wicked earthly ruler, who will be neither a mere king of ‘the north’ or of ‘the south’ but will, like Alexander, ‘rule with great authority and do as he pleases’ (cf. 11:36-39).”

The meteoric career of Alexander is simply expressed (and quite accurately so) by Daniel 11:4: “And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken …” Then the kingdom was “… divided toward the four winds of heaven …” (Dan 11:4). But Daniel saw it before it happened, for he “… had understanding of the vision” (Dan 10:1). God’s Word stands for ever.

THOUGHT: How far into the future can I see?
PRAYER: I thank Thee, Lord, all Scripture is given by Thy inspiration.