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g1vmg so many details of future
history. And toread an ancient his–
tory of these kingdoms is simply to
see unfolded before your eyes, step
by step, verse by verse, this marvel–
ous prophecy. There can be no
doubt of its right application!
The Holy Land Changes Hands
Next let us notice verse 7: "But out
of a branch of her roots shall one
stand up in his estate [margin, "in
his office"], 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."
"Out of a branch," or "shoot," of
her roots. Her parents were her
roots. Hence, this must be her
brother, who next should occupy
the throne of king of the south and
fulfill this prophecy. Now listen to
this accurate fu lfillment, quoted
word for word from the same page
of Rawlinson's work (p. 252):
"Ptolemy Euergetes [the III,
eldest son of Philadelphus (p. 272)
and therefore Bernice's brother, a
branch of her roots] invaded Syria,
B.C . 245, to avenge the murder of
his sister, Bernice.... In the war
which followed, he carried every–
thing before him."
The eighth verse of Daniel 11
says this king of the south would
carry captives and vessels of silver
and gold into Egypt, and continue
to reign more years than the king of
the north, who at that time was
Seleucus
11,
and verse 9 says he
shall return into Egypt. As verse 7
said he sbould "enter into the for–
tress of the king of the north," Pto–
lemy
rn
did seize tbe fortress of
Syria, Seleucia, the port of Anti–
och, capital of the kingdom! Then
he carried back to Egypt immense
booty and 2,500 molten images and
idolatrous vessels which, in 526
B.C. Cambyses had carried away
from Egypt. He continued to rule
until 222 B.C., while the king of
the north, Seleucus
Il,
died in 226
B.C.
When be died, his two sons took
over the kingdom of the north; first
Seleucus Ill, 226-223 B.C., who
ruled only three years, and then his
brother Antiochus III, called "the
Great," 223-187 B.C. Both of these
two sons of Seleucus 11 assembled
immense forces to war agai nst
24
Egypt, avenge their father, and
recover their port and fortress, Se–
leucia.
And this was accurately prophe–
sied in verse 10: "But his sons shall
be stirred up, and shall assemble a
multitude of great forces: and one
shall certainly come, and overflow,
and pass through: then shall be
return and be stirred up [margin,
"be stirred up again"], even to his
fortress."
"And," continues verse 11, "the
king of the south shall be moved
with choler, and shall come forth
and fight with him, even with the
king of the north: and he shall set
forth a great multitude; but the
multitude shall be given into bis
hand."
In fulfillment of the latter part
of verse 10, Antiochus the Great,
after 27 years, recovered his for–
tress, Seleucia, and he also con–
quered the territory of Syria, as far
as Gaza, including Judea. But the
young Egyptian king, now Ptolemy
IV (Philopater), was roused, and
with an army of 20,000 infticted
severe defeat on Antiochus the
Great; and fulfilling verse 12, he
killed tens of thousands and again
annexed Judea to Egypt. But he
was not strengthened, for he made
a rash and speedy peace with Anti–
ochus, and returned to dissipation,
throwing away the fruits of victory.
Says verse 12, "And when he hath
taken away the multitude, bis heart
shall be lifted up; and he shal l cast
down many ten thousands: but he
shall not be strengthened by it."
"For," as verse 13 continues,
"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."
It
was "after certain
years," or 12 years later, 205 B.C.,
that Ptolemy Philopator died, leav–
ing his throne to an infant son, Pto–
lemy Epiphanes. Then Antiochus
assembled a greater army, and won
great victories.
He then made a treaty allying
Philip of Macedonia with him, and
others, against Egypt, and they
wrested Phoenicia and southern
Syria from the king of the south. In
this they were assisted by sorne of
the Jews. Josephus ' Jewish history
says many Jews helped Antiochus.
But notice how accurately Almigh–
ty God had foretold this, hundreds
of years before it happened!-
"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" (v. 14).
Read lt in Your Own Bible!
To save space, the reader is asked
from this point to read each verse
of the prophecy from bis own
Bible, thus saving us reprinting the
prophecy in full here. We give here
only the facts in history.
Verses 15-16- "the glorious
land," of course, refers to Judea,
the Holy Land. Antiochus the
Great besieged and took Sidon
from Egypt, ruined the interests of
Egypt in Judea at the Battle of
Mount Panium, 198 B.C., and then
A ntiochus took possession of
Judea.
Verse 17-"upright ones" (see
margin) in Hebrew means "equal
conditions, or marriage," but the
one he marries will not stand on his
side. In 198 B.C., Antiochus
arranged a marriage between his
daughter, Cleopatra (not the Cleo–
patra of 31 B.C. in Egypt) and
young Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of
the south, by which he hoped sub–
tly to gain complete possession of
Egypt; but the plan failed.
Says Rawlinson, page 254,
"Coele-Syria and Palestine prom–
ised as a dowry, but not delivered."
Cleopatra did not truly stand on the
side of Antiochus, for it was only a
trick to gain possession of Egypt.
Verse 18-and so Antiochus
turned his attention in another
direction and tried to conquer, 197
to 196 B.C., the islands and coasts
of Asia Minor. But the Roman gen–
eral, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asia–
ticus, utterly defeated him at the
Battle of Magnesia, 190 B.C.
Verse 19-Antiochus next
turned bis attention to the for–
tresses of his own land, in the east
a nd west. But, attempting to
recruit his dissipated wealth by the
plunder of the Oriental Temple of
Belus, irt Elymais, he was killed,
187 B.C.
Verse 20-Seleucus IV Philopa–
tor (187-176), bis son, in an effort
to raise money, sent a tax collector,
The PLAIN TRUTH